Bill Cosby at Spellman College

I would also like a copy of this speech, I have been searching the web also without any luck.

I have 4 granddaughters. 1 graduated from Bennett College in Greensboro, NC. I would also like a copy of the Cosby graduation speech.

I also am looking for a copy of the Cosby graduation speech. As the single father of a little girl, I think it is important to point out that I am one of the men who stepped up to the plate, all by myself, and in turn want to teach my daughter the same values and beliefs I was brought up with.

I would also like a copy of this speech, I have been searching the web with no luck.

I think more of our political and religious leaders need to follow Bill's example and speak out. We need to start to have a dialogue about the problems in our community.

I would also like a copy of the speech.

MR. WILLIAMS,YOUR REQUEST FOR A TRANSCRIPT HAS BEEN FULFILLED BY "SHAFUNK". HOLLER BACK AT A BROTHER AT YAHOO 360.COM. - PEACE YA'LL.

*Bill Cosby held nothing back during his speech Sunday to the graduating class of Spelman College, an historically black college for women nestled in Atlanta, GA.

"You have to know that it is time for you all to take charge," Cosby said. "You have to seriously see yourselves not as the old women where the men stood in front and you all stood behind, because the men, most of them are in prison."

Added Cosby: "It is time for you to pick up the pace and lead because the men are not there. They're not there and every one of you young women know it.”

When one of the 500 members of the graduating class accepted her diploma, Cosby said, "there's no time for you to fool around anymore. …You've got to [get serious] because our race depends upon you and your sisters graduating all across the United States to realize that what's left is you."

Cosby, 68, said he realized that part of his speech would not go over well among many in the audience.

"I'm going to speak to these young women about taking charge and I know it's going to be fearful and it's going to tweak a lot of things," he told The Associated Press in an interview before the ceremony. "They have to because it's in their lives and it's real. It is there. They are going to be needed to protect the legacy that is good."

Cosby told the graduates that the same male students who are dropping out of high school "have memorized the lyrics of very difficult rap songs. …And they know how to send their sperm cells out and then walk away from the responsibility of something called fatherhood."

Cosby said his comments were not directed to all black males, but noted that 70 percent of black graduates this year are female.

"Who's running the show?" Cosby asked. "It appears that the male is, but I have news for you. It's your turn. We want you to lead in business. We want you to lead in medicine. We want you to lead in everything."

I feel that alot of Cosby's comments are correct. If you or offended then these comments must be reflected upon you, and you must step up to the plate and change. So I take my hat off to you, Mr.Cosby, do not let the media stop you from voicing what is right and for helping to educate Black men and women.

I would like to see the TRANSCRIPT of his speech. Not someone else's take on it.

This is not the first time Mr. Cosby said some things about black folks that got a strong reaction from us. He speaks the truth that many of us don't won't to hear. The truth can be painful, but it can also be liberating. If black folk are going to overcome their challenges, we have got to get real abut what is going on wiith us. Too much "fronting" and pretending that things are OK and getting better. Our community & government leaders need to be real leaders and challenge us as a people to be better than we are.

I am a graduate of Atlanta University and would very much like a full copy of Bill Cosby's speech at Spellman College. Can you help me get it.

Greetings everyone. I am proud to say that I too am one of the “minority” black males to have earned/obtained a college degree. Unfortunately, I did not attend a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU); however, I did acquire an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution of higher learning (i.e., West Virginia Wesleyan), and am currently completing my doctoral from Walden University. If I may, I completely support the opinion expressed above by Ms. Burr, “If you [are] offended then these comments must be reflected upon you, and you must step up to the plate and change.” Additionally, I too would like a copy of Mr. Cosby’s speech. Thank you, and remember, “Great minds must collaborate to maintain the struggle and defeat the adversaries of knowledge, enlightenment and equality.”

Go with God…

The truth that Mr. Cosby speaks does not pretain to all Black Men.

Every mother needs to ask herself is she creating this kind of future man by spoiling and ruining her son. Mothers are making these kind of men by blocking the authority of good men in the house-hold

Mothers make their daughters accountable, responsible and independent but make their boys the total opposite.

Many women don't make good decisions in their choice of men. Even the college girls don't choose the brother on the debating team. They choose the bad-boys, rude-boys, spoiled-boys and thugs.

You get what you choose. You can't choose a useless thug, think you can change him and then wonder why he is lazy, ignorant, violent, vulgar illiterate, dependent and useless in a financial, admin-saavy, sophisticated world.

You choose too quick and without depth or discretion. You lie to yourselves about your choices.

Progressive Black Men are out here.
Choose Better. And stop creating useless boys.
Where do you think the useless men come from?

BILL COSBY SHOULD NOT BELONG IN THIS PLIGHT WE HAVE A LOT A WORK TO DO AND THE GRASSROOTS CAN NOT DO IT ALONE.....
As I look around my city as a thrid native gereration Detroitor, what I see with my mind sets the hearts and souls of my ansestors to grive in their graves.
we how have huge churches with 24 hours signs
while the underserve can not attend those churches because thay have no W2 to show, the buildings sit in communties with the BAck, facing the community, I'm told that some even have an ATM machine in the foryer
neverthe less I see every day Aferican american boys leaving school in groves and no one is saying nothing,.
Take the sgin off the church and replace it with an name of an Office the building fits just perfect.
that amount of $$$could have been used to seen someone from the bottom to the top, male mentoring, school mentoring, spirtural mentoring,
No One is saying any thing.
My VOTE did not get taken from me in in Washington , It happem here first in HIghland Park Community ...no one said nothing.....the ones in power were slient perhaps fro their positions, jobs ect....
slient
when we voted for a school board our Governer looked at the funds that we have in Landsing and dismantled our school board, our NAACP reacted after the fact....
Our incaration rate grives my spirit.
I'm on a mission to encourage any one I can to get their HIgh School Dipoloma, a GPA, is of but that's tomorrow glass ciling.
When I look two years and saw the first graduating calss of S.C. for Hotel Maid ASSt. I brought the artical home.
I said to my family what it ment 1st you have tog gratuate form HS, than you have to be excepted in to college than gratuate with a degree in making a BED.
Well you can tak a room of people who do not look like us go in and educate them in that room...
HS dipoloma, than in that same room hold the Hotel Maid asst calss....w with a degree....
while they pick fruit in the morning and go to class at night
WE HAVE MORE BLACK AMERICAN MALES IN PRISION THAN WE HAVE GRATUATING FORM HIGH SCHOOL, AND NON THE REQUIRMENT FOR GRATUATION HAVE GONE UP THE NEED TO START WITH HEAD START,
We are becoming a collony within this city, the class system is thick , the halfs and the half nots
I thank God Almight each and every day for his Grace and His Mercy, and mY prayer is that we wake up and turn this time around NOW befor we become servants in our own country
poo3747@sbcglobal.net

To Mr. Carl Cherebin (in response to your comment) - First it's pertain not pretain, I hope this was a misspelling and that you are not mispronouncing it as well.
Second I notice that you repeatedly state how the mothers are ruining their young men. To some extent I agree with you however let us consider this, where are the black fathers while the mothers are making these mistakes? Exactly I don't know either....but I do know this. There are just as many responsibility dodging, other woman chasing, culturally ignorant black men in the boardroom as their are on the street. Just because you can afford to and do pay your child support doesn't make you a father. If you're too busy climbing the corporate ladder you're still neglecting to RAISE YOUR CHILDREN!!!!!!!

You need only look at data about the black male drop out rate in high schools all over the country, and the number of prisons being built( based on who's reading in two grade) and you will find that Mr. Cosby speaks the truth. Dr.King is turning over in his grave as he sees his people marching backward.So any people have given there lives for us to be at a different place than we are. I taught school for 30 years and watched first hand how mothers raised their sons, but failed to prepare them for manhood. Yes there are mothers who do a great job raising sons but those who don't the number is to high. Men need to raise men. To many mothers won't allow men to do their job and on the other hand some men don't want that job. Be careful women who you sleep with and you won't need to raise a child alone.

corrected mistakes
second grade
so many

The saddest part of this whole problem is that for the most part, the best and brightest of black women are not procreating. EVERY RACE which hopes to maintain itself KNOWS that it must have an intelligentsia segment wo succeed at this goal. Even in the face of the starkly real statistics (42% OF BLACK WOMEN WILL NEVER MARRY-this number is even higher for professional black women), many black women continue to be irrationally hopeful that they will meet and marry a Black man who is "equally yoked." Many of the pitifully few black men who are "equally yoked" play this to the hilt-often run several black women until they get ready to get married to a white one. Many in the black community continue to tell black women to drop their standards- it's a "white" girl thing to look for a man who is a high-achieving, successful member of society. Black women are made to feel that they are materialistic gold-diggers if they can bring the bacon AND a expect a man to do the same. People can continue to look with pity at the black male and feel sorry for him and get angry at "the Man" for being threatened by the black man, but unless he is made to be RESPONSIBLE for his choices, things will continue to decline. Given the sorry current state of affairs re: the black male's status in our society, I would like to know WHy WOULD ANY MALE OF ANY RACE HAVE REASON TO BE THREATENED BY TODAY'S BLACK MAN???Let's GET REAL PEOPLE!! If we start to encourage the higest achieving of black society to settle for mediocrity in a mate, we may as well throw in the towel and accept extinction.

So after all that, did anyone ever find the transcripts? I feel that it is important for all woman of color to come across that information if it is going to be helpful and give some clarity to the struggle and how cultural and economic growth can be achieved. Bill Cosby should not stop there, he should go to the root of the problem; our ghettos and hoods. It is there woman are directly affected by the problematic affects of our cultural genocide that has existed for centuries. Because, most likely, the woman in his audience came from more stable domestic situation where they learned an acquired discipline, enough to at least graduate from college. In the hood, most of those girls aren't seeing anything past tenth grade, therefore lacking any parental discipline which in return would teach self- discipline. It is important "educated" women lead within their divine role and purpose in life, but there are also brilliant dreamers in every position of life, especially the ghetto, and it is there the majority of our teachers of tomorrow exists. Where would you start? I believe Mr. Cosby should share his knowledge with everyone possible and the sooner I can come across that info. the better I will be. Because my baby daddy has no clue on how to be a man, and I know I'm not the only one dealing with that problem. And plus my daddy wasn't around, so how am I going to teach my son how to be a man. Oh, I remember.... God has my back; like he always has. And that's the gist of it.

Check out Spellman College's website. You can order a DVD/VHS copy of the Commencement 2006 ceremony. VHS costs $25.00 and DVD is $35.00.

Has anyone transcribed the speech and posted it online?

SO did anyone find the transcript?

GiGi wrote:

"Because my baby daddy has no clue on how to be a man, and I know I'm not the only one dealing with that problem. And plus my daddy wasn't around, so how am I going to teach my son how to be a man. Oh, I remember.... God has my back; like he always has. And that's the gist of it."

"god" is not going to save your sorry black asses. if you want things to get better for black people, you'll have to begin by taking responsibility for your lives. god didn't make you spread your legs for some rutting black buck, lady, you did that on your own.

WHERE IS THE TEXT OF THE DAMN SPEECH. NOT WHAT SOMEONE SAID BILL COSBY SAID. THERE ARE A LOT OF SNAKES OUT THERE BLACK AND WHITE WHO TRY TO MANIPULATE BILL'S WORDS. WHERE CAN YOU GET THE ENTIRE TEXT????? THATS SIMPLE ISN'T IT

Greetings.

I, too, am looking for the complete text of Dr. Cosby's address at Spelman.

The "Pound Cake" speech from the Brown v Board of Ed banquet is available as is Cosby's rebuttal via his publcist:

http://www.eightcitiesmap.com/transcript_bc.htm

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-22-2004/0002179697&EDATE=

My interest in the text to the Spelman speech has grown after having had a friend forward the following discussion in which right-wing "Cubans" in Miami (with a long and sordid history of egregious racism) are using the "hype" surrounding Cosby's speech as justification for their long-standing elitist attitudes:

http://the26thparallel.blogspot.com/2006/05/dont-blame-us.html

Additional background:
http://www.themeetingoftheminds.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000305

Thank you.

the bill cosby spellman graduation speech can be found at larryelder.com. i dont know if you can print it but you can certainly read it.