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Bill Cosby: Dr. King is More Than 'I Have a Dream'

The famous entertainer spoke at this year's annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast held at Rowan University.

Bill Cosby doesn’t think we’ve achieved Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision.

“It’s important you understand that what I said today was that Dr. King was preparing us and we have not done a good job at receiving the message,” Cosby said Monday afternoon at Rowan University.

Cosby, the beloved comedian, author and activist, was the keynote speaker at Rowan’s 26th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Monday. The event is sponsored by the Rowan University Foundation to honor King’s achievements. It also benefits the William H. Myers Scholarship Fund which provides financial support for high-achieving minority students.

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The Philadelphia native spoke to the breakfast’s largest crowd ever—427 tickets sold—for about an hour and a half. Cosby touched upon public schools, children and young adults today and King’s vision.

“You’re not clarifying your words,” he told the audience. “You’re allowing things to go uncorrected. You’re allowing today’s birthday, today’s celebration, to read like it’s a done deal.”

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Cosby said King’s message is not a done deal.

“You allow it by not speaking up,” Cosby said to several nods in the audience.

Cosby frequently brought up parents being afraid of their children, asking why do they murder one another.

“This is time where we have to pick up and speak up,” Cosby said. “…We can’t be afraid of them.”

Of course, the jokes came, but Cosby always brought it back to a serious note. He laughed about mothers being lawyers—they already know the answer, but ask anyway.

“If you love your son, you got to know where he’s going if you just let him go,” Cosby said. “If you love your children, you don’t just allow them to leave. There’s too much looseness in what we’re supposed to do as parents.”

Cosby tied all this into making positive role models out of young adults by educating them and putting more not only into public schools but keeping the education going when they get home from school.

“You gotta take your children places,” Cosby said. “[Tell them] they can work in that building, they can put on a suit and tie, we’ve got community college waiting for you and waiting for you and waiting for you.”

Cosby broke racial barriers in the 1960s with his role on “I Spy.” It made him the first African American to co-star in a dramatic series on television.

Cosby’s most notable work came in the 1980s and 1990s, producing and starring in “The Cosby Show.” The Grammy- and Emmy-winning entertainer holds a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts and most recently, accepted the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Cosby, who’s met Dr. King once he said, said he was amazed at how much older-looking he was in real life.

“He’s more than just ‘I have a dream,’” Cosby said.

He went on to talk about his family, saying his wife of 48 years Camille has said “Oh Lord” to him more times than all five of their kids put together.

“I’m my wife’s oldest child,” he said.

During a more somber moment, Cosby spoke of his only son Ennis, who was murdered in 1997 at the age of 27. At the time of his death, Ennis was a student at Teachers College at Columbia University. He has aspirations to open a charter school, Cosby said.

Monday marked the 15th anniversary of his death. At the breakfast, Cosby wore a sweatshirt of Rowan colors with the words "Hello friend," a phrase Ennis used that Cosby adopted and used on Little Bill, a children's show he created on Nickelodeon.

To follow in those footsteps seemed to be the undertone of Cosby’s anecdote.

“When you’re challenged with things, don’t let them have it,” he said. “Speak up.”

Rowan sophomore Chris McCaughan, of Glassboro, who works for the school’s mentoring program, aimed at giving younger low-economic students the same chances as everyone, said he liked how Cosby speaks from experience.

“He’s a very wise man,” he said. “He’s experienced life.”

Related Topics: Bill Cosby, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rowan University


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