I watched Meet the Press for the first time in a long time last Sunday morning because Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint were Tim Russerts’ guests. Coz has followed up his cathartic truth telling within the African American community with a new book, “Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors”. Unlike a lot of out-of-touch Black pundits and esoteric thinkers - you know who they are - who create excuses and point fingers towards others as the cause for Black social degredation Coz and Poussaint talk truth and actual solutions.

Like Bill says, and I paraphrase, Black families have always had to deal with racism in America but we always dealt with it responsibly, and correctively (as in self correction and discipline) and not self destructively as we’ve resorted to in recent generations. Thank you Bill and Alvin for continuing to confront and expose the excuses with the truth of ourselves and what it takes to check and correct ourselves because we are damn sure wrecking oursleves, if I may complete the hip-hop inspired thought of the state of things as they are.

I won’t repeat the content of the interview - just read the Sunday, Oct 14, 2007 transcript - because I’ve already commented on my support of Bill’s in-your-face method of getting to the nitty gritty with Black America. In fact I’ve already ranted more than I intended to but I will give a couple of personal insights that struck me and have stuck with me.

There were a couple of phrases that he and Dr. Poussaint put out there that resonated with me. They used terms like “love giver” as opposed to “care giver” in reference to people like foster parents who stayed on and hung in there with kids that society had given up on. Love is the strongest bulwark against any type of anti social behavior. Poussaint used another phrase that I wish I had thought of, father hunger. Heck, that described me perfectly as a kid raised by a divorcee. There are some things only a father can explain clearly to a son. There are some things a boy can only discuss and let off his chest with another man who understands because he’s been there.

It was a powerful interview, one that you shouldn’t have missed if you haven’t had a chance to see any of the town hall styled meeetings which have been conducted around the country in recent months with Coz and other nationally known African American leaders . If you’re a real “actionist” not only will you read the NBC transcript but you will buy the book, you will buy extra copies for friends and you’ll blog about it. Here’s a thought, buy ten copies and conduct a meme or some type of contest on your site. Then send each winner their personal copy as a prize. You’re a creative bunch so think of something and push this treasure that will actually bring some real thought, solutions and resolution to the issues that restrain us from progressing.