Cosby's cause

Bill Cosby gets letters from people all the time asking for money to help "escape" their community or turn their lives around. What they don't know is help is often a lot closer than his Shelbourne, Mass., home.

The famous comedian was about a half an hour into an interview with The Telegram recently when the discussion turned to fan mail.

"We've found that 70 per cent of the people (looking for help) have organizations that, they're ready, they're right around the corner from where this person is writing and they just haven't bothered to get up and go there," he said.

Encouraging people to take it upon themselves to make changes in their lives and their communities has long been a goal of Cosby's.

In 2007, he released the book "Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors," written with psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint.

The book is clearly aimed at African Americans, with the first chapter titled "What's going on with black men?" However, the concepts expressed throughout - on personal responsibility, how to "replace victim with neighbourhood" and "raising victors" - moves beyond any one race or community.

Most recently, Cosby has sparked town hall-style meetings around his sponsored CD release "Bill Cosby presents The Cosnarati: State of Emergency."

The album of rap, hip hop and R&B tracks is performed by guests Jace the Great, Brother Hahz and Supa Nova Slom. The full album, available for download online since Nov. 24, was produced by William (Spaceman) Patterson, who has worked with L.L. Cool J and Alicia Keys.

The lyrics are aimed at getting people - in particular black people - talking about poverty, drugs and violence in the places where they live. The goal is to address the problems.

"I just feel that so many people find it so devastating and negative where they are, that they look away. They don't want to look at it," Cosby said. "We're asking people to have these little parties where people sit and listen to cuts from the album and discuss it amongst themselves."

Cosby was asked how he feels about rap/hip-hop culture - if it exists, and if so, how it may or may not play into the social problems he is attempting to address.

He didn't agree with the use of the word "culture."

"Jewish people have a culture. Newfoundland people have a culture ... I'm not sure if profanity is a culture. I'm not sure if giving up on education is a part of culture; to call women out of their names, if that is a culture, so much as people in business make money off of it.

"Is there a culture of owning a gun and blowing out teenage boys of lower economic - I mean, when 11-year-old girls start dressing like Britney Spears or no clothes just to announce ..." In an hour of conversation, this is the fastest Cosby has spoken and the only time he is left grasping for words.

"Culture? I think they would like to pronounce that as culture. But it's not culture that anyone would want. I don't see it as being anything that will take a people up and out of depression, murder, drug abuse, abandonment. It can't be a part of culture to not know who your children are," he said.

"This is stuff that is depressing and the behaviour that comes from it is something that drags out an ugliness ...

"You just shoot to kill, you order somebody killed, you shoot to kill, you sell drugs to people knowing that they're going to become addicted or you don't know or you don't care that you're going to ruin a family. So, no, culture is not it. This is a behaviour like weeds. It has to leave."

Cosby's son, Ennis Cosby, was shot and killed in 1997. He was murdered while changing a tire on a Los Angeles freeway. According to trial coverage from the New York Times, 19-year-old Mikail Markhasev was convicted of the 27-year-old's murder and sentenced to life in prison.

The elder Cosby said he knows there is an audience for the image of drugs and guns, of artists who sing in support of the idea of murder or create videos with men calling women "bitches." He doesn't support it.

"Somewhere in that, the psychiatrists and the psychologists and the social workers - I think there's a breakdown there. Because this kind of behaviour should be set up as something, as negative," Cosby said.

"Oddly enough, when you look at the Black Entertainment Television and see these videos, one would think that what they're saying is this is the black culture. But that doesn't mean that it's correct."

The idea of the Cosnarati, said Cosby, is to look at issues like this.

"We're talking about it in this CD - think about it. How do you make yourself strong? How do you turn your head this way and look at it, (at where you live)?"

An award winner yet again

Cosby did break from his work on the Cosnarati CD release recently in order to accept the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. But even there, his social conscience shines through.

Only 11 other people have ever received the comedy award.

"Do you know why?" Cosby says, warning that the answer will make the question feel silly.

"Well, they've only been doing it for 11 years."

Before accepting this year, Cosby said he'd turned down the honour twice.

"Richard Pryor was the first recipient and it was the attitude of some of the comedians that they were going out and they were paying homage to Richard. But in fact, all they were doing was saying, 'I got to be me and this is who I am, and Richard is who he is.' And they started using a whole lot of profanity and the 'N' word and it was just very, very embarrassing.

"I never saw it, but I heard about it from people who I respect - dignified people, people who are working in civil rights. And they were kind about it. They just said, well, it was just awful."

In other words, "awful" was the nicest thing they could say.

"Well Richard was very, very sick and he just smiled through most of it," Cosby said. "And I just thought, why would these white people producing this show allow this kind of thing unless they thought, yeah, this is black people and we'll just let black people be this. ... Hey man, stop it.

"And when they came to me, I said no. I don't want to be on that."

Approached for the third time last year, Cosby said the executive at PBS - the television station that broadcasts the award presentation - asked why he had said no.

"I sat with them and I told them, not that I was disappointed, but that I was very angry at allowing these fools to act in a manner of disrespect for the whole race. This is PBS, for God's sake. Have some class."

With everything out on the table, Cosby said he would be interested in the idea, with a few ground rules laid out. The show was to have no profanity - it has never been part of Cosby's work; no people picked to speak just for ratings - the people had to be somehow connected to Cosby or his work; and Cosby was to meet with the producers and writers on the show to make sure there were no misunderstandings.

Cosby said he vetoed more than one suggestion of people who might speak for him.

"I'm not interested in (a comedian) coming out and going for himself. And when you guys honour him, all his friends can come out and play, but not for me. And I don't care if people I'm asking for are old. They're performers," he said.

"I'm telling you right now, if Sammy Davis were alive I would have him on. I don't care how old."

In the end, the event - recorded by PBS - was a success, said the comedian.

"(The recording) really is wonderful," said Cosby.

Not stopping for a moment, The Cos is now back out on the road again. As part of his current tour, Cosby will be performing at Mile One Centre in St. John's on Friday. Tickets are still available.

afitzpatrick@thetelegram.com