“We can change things we have control over if we accept personal responsibility and embrace self-help.” – Introduction to “Come on, People”

Bill Cosby

In the three years since Bill Cosby delivered what can be thought of as his “Ghettoesburg Address” during the NAACP’s 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, there has been a big hoopla in the black community over his controversial remarks. Using the national community as his stage, Bill Cosby and co-author Dr. Alvin E. Poussaint have been listening to and participating in “community call-outs” in cities across the country.

In the section, “It Takes a Community – Remembering the Triumphs,” the authors explore how African-American people have lost many of the kinship bonds that historically held us together as communities. They point out that the spirit of caring and self-help that sustained us for centuries is now largely a cultural memory.

Replacing Victimhood with Neighborhood

“In the era before welfare checks, food stamps, subsidized housing and Medicaid, families were strong - they had to be. If the nuclear family faltered, (as sometimes this happened), the extended family, (uncles, aunts, neighbors), lent a helping hand.”

CALL-OUT:

Birmingham, Alabama

“We just have to do a few things; we need to have a vision. We need to be accountable not only to ourselves, but FOR ourselves and others. We need to be accountable for the ways that we contribute to what is going on in our communities today. We need to see things differently, the way our ancestors did — and know that it is possible.”  – Attorney Lauren Lake

Cosby’s response: “We have to begin by taking back our neighborhoods; we have to be involved. Black strength lies in our resolve to keep on keeping on, never quitting, never giving up, never yielding to the role of cooperative victims.

Sometimes people with a victim mentality feel hopeless and do self-destructive things that make their lives even worse. It is time to redirect that energy. It is time to think positively and act positively.
The people who need your help are right here — right now! We must relearn how to respect ourselves and help each other in a way that will serve the community, not destroy it. What will it take to pull our people out of poverty? What will get us to contemplate a life with brighter dreams? What will inspire us to pursue the future as if it mattered? We ask these questions only because there are answers, real ones, and attainable ones.”

About the Children

We ALL Start Out as Children — Teach the Children Well
“If children are not being helped, they’re going to pay somebody back for what happened to them!”

CALL-OUT:

Compton, California

“Each and every one of us has a responsibility to protect the children — your child, my child, your next-door neighbor’s child. Fathers, Mothers, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Neighbors, God-parents, Play Aunts, God aunts. Every single one of you has a responsibility for the children. Every single one of you.” – Dr. Xylina Bean, Chief of Neonatology,

King Drew Medical Center.

Victorious children are kids who live happy, healthy, loving, and cooperative lives, kids who enjoy learning and exploration; kids who embrace the future. They don’t get there by themselves. “All parents can do right by their children, and all children can succeed. There is no reason why not.
It’s important to remember that they (children) live in our village too! Parenting works best when both a mother and a father participate, communities and families must provide our youth with the love and guidance that keeps them strong and on that positive path,” said Dr Alvin Poussaint.

Thoughts on the Media

It ALL Starts with Choices

Studies have shown that being exposed to a high level of media violence may make your kids numb to it. Excessive media violence plays a role in societal violence. It amplifies the toxic atmosphere that gives support to violence, and it undermines efforts at violence prevention, practically among young people.

Exposure to media violence also heightens feeling of paranoia. In fact, children who watch a lot of television do worse in school than those who watch less. Children who engage in other activities such as reading, board games, and creative play learn the best.

Use the Media to Educate

“With both good and bad media out there, you have to help select media for kids that will support their successes. With violence and killing so prevalent, you have the responsibility to monitor the effects of media violence on your kids,” said Dr. Alvin Poussaint.

On Black Men

For the last generation or two, as our communities dissolved and our parenting skills broke down, no one has suffered more than our young black men.

CALL-OUT:

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

“This gansta mentality is leading our children into the valley of death. There’s no return ticket on that trip! Does anybody stop and say: We understand that and will not go there — or do you just keep on keeping on?”

“It’s time for us men to think of the future, to straighten out our acts, to say to ourselves, I am more interested in raising my child than any other issue I had before — it’s about the child. If a Black man makes that commitment, he is a much better man than he thought he was,” said Cosby.

Combining a message of personal responsibility with practical solutions, the authors call for African-Americans to embrace self-help while shedding self-destructive behaviors. Analyzing each situation and never mincing their words, Cosby and Poussaint take pro-active positions on any number of subjects unequivocally. Among those words, (along with community ‘call-outs’) are the tools that are necessary in the face of the degeneracy directed daily at our African-American youth in the battle for their bodies and minds.

This book will encourage you to set aside all excuses and make a better life for you, our youth, and the community. A must read for people concerned about empowering the world they live in.