-
10 Questions with ... Dr. Bill Cosby
December 1, 2009
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Actor, author, television producer, musician and activist, Bill Cosby earned a PhD in Education from the University of Massachusetts. Born and raised in Philadelphia, in his early years he was an athlete, playing football, basketball, baseball and running track.
Many will remember him as the co-star (along with Robert Culp) in the NBC-TV series, "I Spy." Cosby's most stunning television success came in September, 1984 with the debut of "The Cosby Show." It became the highest ranking sitcom of all time. He has received honorary degrees form more than a dozen colleges and universities.
Lately, Bill Cosby has made a plea for African-American families to educate their children on the many different aspects of American cultures and to urge fathers to take charge of their families, especially their children.
His latest project in keeping with that theme is "State Of Emergency." He has released an empowering hip-hop album, "Bill Cosby Presents The Cosnarati: State of Emergency." The album, for which Cosby was the executive producer, features guest appearances of rapper/activists Jace-The-Great, William "Spaceman" Patterson, Brother Hahz and Supa Nova Slom.
1) Tell us a little about the "State Of Emergency" album.
There are 12 cuts on it, starting with the title track, "State Of Emergency." The other cuts include "Why?," "Fear No Man," "Where's The Parade?," "Take Time," "Dad's Behind The Glass," "Safe Of Your Heart, " "Get On Your Job," "But First, " "Perfect World," and "Runnin'."
The writers on the project were very academic in their writing, putting choruses and meaningful chants in their writing. Even though this is supposedly an art form that knows very little about music, they certainly know about writing. They know about how to form and enunciate sounds. When I went to them, I had my money set up and I had my ideas of what I wanted to say. I did not come to Spaceman or David Muhammed saying, "I've got an idea to make a lot of money. Instead, I said, I have ideas and thoughts that I think need to be put to the selection of an art form that is, as far as I'm concerned, not being said. We're not challenging or putting down anybody except we're calling attention to the thought in the mind of the person who sees his life and feels stuck runnin'.
2) And "Runnin'" is the title of one of the 12 cuts on this "State of Emergency" album.
Exactly. And we want people to think about it and know that this is a part of you.
3) Tell us a little about the listening parties that you have scheduled across America.
When we have the listening parties, we're going to be talking especially to the men. We want to say to them, "I'm talking to you. I want you to know about my pain and my frustration behind the glass that you gave me this kind of life." And this is the title of another cut from the album, "Dads Behind The Glass." We want people to do what I feel they're not really doing enough of -- that is getting together and admitting that many of our children are stuck. Many of our grown-ups are stuck and that we need to cleanse ourselves; the first way to begin to do it is to look at ourselves and talk about it. And talk about what we're not doing ... because if you're not doing it to help yourself then anybody who wants to use you can use you.
4) That's a powerful message.
Well, you see the house parties we have planned will be just as powerful. When we can get people to get together -- all kinds of groups -- we can help to solve some of these problems.
5) You were just in Canada. Tell us about that experience.
I was in Edmonton, Alberta, and this Canadian white woman who works on a radio station, looked at me and said, "You have this CD, Mr. Cosby that talks about disenfranchised youth. You don't hear about disenfranchised youth here in Canada and I would really like to be a part of this because I would like to know more about this project. From what I've heard and read, this is about our disenfranchised youth." So I gave her the information and told her to log in and become involved. And then I told her if she had any additional questions to dial my wife (smile).
These pieces are designed to go inside the mind of the listener -- while the listener is being entertained by the sound of the rhythm and the voices. But the words are there along with the set-up by these great writers. We're saying these are your neighborhoods. These are your schools. And you cannot look away.
(Next week on Part Two of this Special 10 Questions with Dr. Bill Cosby, we will get his reaction to the tragic case of the young woman in the northern California community of Richmond who was sexually assaulted while no one came to her rescue. And Dr. Cosby offers a universal challenge.)
This is the second of a special two-part series on Bill Cosby (below)
NAME: Dr. Bill Cosby is an actor, author, television producer, musician and activist.
He earned at PhD in education from the University of Massachusetts. He was born and raised in Philadelphia. In his early years he was an athlete, playing football, basketball, baseball and running track.
Many will remember him as the co-star (along with Robert Culp) in the NBC-TV series, "I Spy." Cosby's most stunning television success came in September 1984 with the debut of "The Cosby Show." It became the highest ranking sitcom of all time. He has received honorary degrees from more than a dozen colleges and universities.
Lately, Bill Cosby has made a plea for African-American families to educate their children on the many different aspects of American cultures and to urge fathers to take charge of their children.
His latest project in keeping with that theme is "State Of Emergency." He has released an empowering hip-hop album, "Bill Cosby Presents The Cosnarati: State of Emergency." The album, for which Cosby was the executive producer, features guest appearances of rapper/activists Jace-The Great, William "Spaceman" Patterson, Brother Hahz and Supa Nova Slom. This is part two of our conversation.
6) You were particularly struck by what happened recently in the northern California community of Richmond when a young female high school student was sexually assaulted in front of several witnesses and nobody did anything.
The thing that disturbs me the most is that fact that some of those people who were present said there was nothing they could have done about it. So I'm saying that people are not looking. They're not paying attention to incidences like this that are taking place in their own community. That's sad and that is what we've got to change.
7) Dr. Cosby, I would like you now to expand on the "State Of Emergency" album and the writers who are part of it.
Wel,l I'm going to refer here to the four cuts that you singled out from the "State of Emergency" album. These pieces are designed to go into the mind of the listener while the listener is being entertained by the sound of the rhythm, the sound of the voices. But the words are there. They're set up by these great writers -- Jace-The Great, William "Spaceman" Patterson, Brother Hahz and Supa Nova Slom. They are being very academic in their writing and putting choruses and meaningful chants to the songs.
Even thought this is supposed to be an art form that knows very little about music, they certainly know about writing. They know about how to form and enunciate sounds so that when they communicate very effectively.
8) "State of Emergency" and these house parties send a powerful message?
Those house parties will be just as powerful. When we can get people, all kinds of people to get together, we can make a difference. We want to make people aware of what's going on. This is not a drive-by accident that you don't want to see. This is your neighborhood. This is your school. You cannot look away. And because of the way the artists and writers on this project have done it, it is, in fact, entertaining. I'm gong to challenge anybody who says that this is depressing. My challenge to them is you're not a part of those people who say I'm just making it real, because that used to be the swagger. Okay, you want to make it real, take a look at this. And they won't. They don't want to look at it. They turn their heads and then start taking about something else with promissory notes of nothing.
I'm just proud. I am proud of this project. It went way past what I had originally envisioned. When I first heard it when Spaceman Patterson sent "Runnin'" to me, I didn't cry -- because I'm a man (smile). But my eyes became very moist ... the kind of moist when you know what you're listening to is right on the button. The way they put it together. It's got the beat and everything with it ... and all of those rhythms and the things fall into place. You can't tell me you don't understand those words. You can't use all of those excuses that the truth is that you don't want to do anything about it. You can't just keep turning your head.
One of the things that stood out for me was a young woman in Springfield, Massachusetts who I confronted because she said to me that algebra is boring. So I brought her up and in front of the auditorium and in front of all her classmates. She broke down and said, "I don't want to do anything. You don't' know anything about my father and my life." And I hugged her and she hugged me back and she started weeping. So I talked to her counselor after the event was over. It turned out that her father was in prison.
Here's the point: She's unhappy about the fact that she has a father who is someplace she is ashamed of. And second, she wants to talk to him, but he doesn't want to respond to her because he's embarrassed about where he is. Then she is angry that whenever he does respond because she's looking at this, whatever it is, saying that her father is in jail and she is angry about that, so she answers him in anger but then she also answers him in sadness. All these emotions just serve to further confuse this young girl. Plus, she's not getting any support or help from anyone else. So the listening parties combined with the CD may be able to bust open not only the males who are having problems, but also the females.
A lot of the current records have left out the females' emotions. All of these unfortunate females who have been hit with all the negatives -- and they are the ones who give birth. They are the ones who wind up with the fathers going to jail. So that's one of the important things about these listening parties that we're doing all over the country.
9) Dr. Cosby, one of the other messages that are part of "State Of Emergency" is hope.
If we want hope we have to acknowledge that we want to work to save ourselves. In doing that we have to acknowledge that we know as much as we can about ourselves and we want to find out what is helpful in healing and what is helpful to let go of. When we make our decisions, if we think about being hopeful, then we have to take charge of ourselves and what we're doing so that when we make a decision, based on something that we wanted to do or did not want to do, what was the decision and who were we thinking about?
There's a very simple Muslim saying -- "Trust in Allah but tie up your camel." That's about as truthful as you can be about anything. If you're going to have sex without protection, then you're asking to be a partner in having a child. When that child comes, it is your responsibility. We have to take hold of that which is our responsibility. We can't keep pointing back to when we misbehaved and blame somebody who did something to us and say that's why I'm doing this. Why is the positive thought not there? Because we don't talk about it much. That is what the listening party is about It is designed to cause that turnaround; the hope is there because when you look at, as we were talking about earlier, negative people who write in the hope and the positive about what we're doing.
-
-