NEW ORLEANS—
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Hundreds packed a huge hall at the Morial
Convention Center on Saturday to hear from comedian, activist and
educator Bill Cosby, a featured speaker at the Essence Music
Festival's annual gathering of leaders charged with finding
solutions to problems facing urban America.Cosby, who's often criticized for his scolding tone when discussing ills facing the African American community, was warmly received, drawing applause and other positive reactions throughout his nearly 90-minute conversation.
Moderator Wendy Wilson, editor of Essence.com, noted that statistics show that every school day, some 7,000 children drop out.
"Are you sure it's every day?," Cosby asked, as audience members laughed. "Because if you go from September to July, at that rate, we'd have no one left to teach."
Using his trademark story-telling humor, Cosby said curbing the nation's drop out rate starts with educators who love what they do.
He asked the audience if they remember Mr. So-and-So or Ms. Whoever, who taught them biology or algebra and they didn't want that teacher because "they gave too much work" but then "you were crying tears after graduating from that class, thanking that teacher for giving them so much work."
"Our children need us," he said. "We've got to get people into the system who want to teach. We need principals who want to train teachers. In the name of God, or anyone else you believe in, 420 students need more than one counselor. Our children deserve better."
"Those who are teachers, don't give up," Cosby implored. "This is your civil rights issue now."
Cosby also touched on the tendency of some in the community to "play the blame game" instead of searching for a solution to whatever problem was at hand.
"If something bad is happening in the community, why do we just keep on talking about it?" he said. "We've got to get our people to believe in themselves again, to value themselves and stop waiting for Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to fix it."
Eric Wesson, of Kansas City, Mo., said he thought Cosby's comments were on point.
"I think he did a phenomenal job bringing issues we face daily to the forefront," he said. "I also think he may have been preaching to the choir because most of those in this arena already have a bit of social consciousness and the question remains on whether they can take it back to the community. He was more of a motivator in that regard, to get people out and working in the community."
The town hall's host, political commentator Roland Martin, gave the audience homework assignments, asking them to write down one thing they would do over the course of the next year to fix a problem in their home town.
"How do we move forward with the issues facing our community? What will you do to change where you live?," he said.
Regina Saiz, of Gilbert, Ariz., said Cosby was interesting as always.
"I think his reiterating that we've got to do it on our own really hit home and he was able to make his point using humor," she said.
Benjamin Todd Jealous, national president and chief executive of the NAACP, also addressed the crowd and asked for their help in tackling issues facing America, among them, universal health care, racial profiling, the No Child Left Behind act and unions for small businesses.
"We need your help," he said.
