That's right... I'm going to dare to speak my mind about Bill Cosby. First let me answer the question of "do I think Mr. Cosby was guilty in one or more of his charges? I cannot second-guess this man's actual innocence or potential guilt, and I'm not going to try. Do I think Mr. Cosby deserved to be released based on denial of his due process rights? Yes.
As an actor, educator and philanthropist, Bill Cosby has done a great deal for the education, image and collective self-esteem of Black America, and this is something I refuse to forget or allow to be overshadowed by his s*xual assault allegations. So why do so many people in the Black community feel differently than me? Let's see... could it be because they are still upset about something called the "Pound Cake Speech?"
On May 17, 2004, the NAACP staged a gala celebration at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Bill Cosby was asked to deliver the main address. Cosby delivered a controversial speech that profiled current African American social, economic and cultural deficiencies which ignited a firestorm of protest and debate within the Black community.
I remember all to well how a lot of people in the Black community took exception to the way Mr. Cosby dared to 'air our dirty laundry' and hold us accountable for our actions by telling the truth about our faults and flaws... but MANY of those same truths had already been articulated by Chris Rock several years beforehand in his famous 1996 HBO stand-up comedy routine: n*ggas vs. Black People. The only difference, in my eyesight, is Chris Rock made these truths funny while Bill Cosby, despite being a comedian himself, sucked the humor right out of the situation and went for the not-so-funny and unapologetic bare bones truth. Now we don't like THAT do we? (Yes that was sarcasm.)
Well... I have NO problem with anything Mr. Cosby said back in 2004, and I do not agree with the way his speech has been characterized as an attack on poor Black people simply because not every POOR Black person conducts him or herself the ways Mr. Cosby DESCRIBED. In other words... being poor, in and of itself, has nothing to do with it! It's the mentality and behavioral issues that Mr. Cosby was talking about, and those who display these negative and subpar behaviors felt their toes were being stepped on. The reaction Mr. Cosby received therefore amounts to no more than a resentment of the truths many of us don't like to hear or discuss because we are complacent and resistant to the very changes we actually need to make.
Here's the way I see it: Bill Cosby's personal choices and errors in judgment (if any) does NOT change the truth he spoke about certain folks within the Black community back in 2004... and it's time for 'some' people in our community to wake up and separate the range of truths Mr. Cosby cited in the 'Pound Cake Speech' from his alleged mistakes. Yeah I said it now get mad at me!
Meanwhile... here's Phylicia Rashad catching fire for supporting Mr. Cosby. According to recent news reports, Outraged Howard University students and alumni are calling for actress Phylicia Rashad to be fired as dean of its College of Fine Arts in the wake of her enthusiastic support of Bill Cosby’s release from prison. The hashtag #ByePhylicia — a play on “Bye Felicia” — started trending this week after the actress celebrated her former “Cosby Show” co-star’s release with a jubilant, “FINALLY!!!!”
“A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” the actress tweeted along with a photo of Cosby, whose s*x assault conviction was overturned Wednesday on a legal technicality.
I support Bill Cosby from the standpoint of his due process rights as provided for by our legal system. I'm talking about the same legal system that has granted freedom to many others be they guilty or not in scenarios such as Mr. Cosby's and worse. This is not to say that I condone any actual crime that may or may not have been committed... but timely reporting on behalf of all accusers; burden of proof and due process factors are obviously still at play here, and they have clearly not been satisfied to the legal standard as provided by law. I also support Phylicia Rashad in terms of her loyalty to Mr. Cosby; her right to free speech, and that's all there is to it. If what I've said here makes me biased or a lousy 'brotha', then so be it... but I know better.
Peace
Posted By: Gene Amadi Jakande
Monday, July 5th 2021 at 5:29AM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
