I don't always agree with everything that Bill Cosby has to say. I've listened to him speak and sometimes wanted to ask him what he'd been putting in those Jell-O Pudding Pops. All the while, I've gained a a tremendous amount of respect and appreciation for Cosby as he provides a perspective that I think many in the African American community need to hear.

In fact, the reason I love Cosby the most is that he reminds me of my father, a man with whom I often disagree but who challenges me to consider an alternative point of view. Cosby's no-nonsense approach to solving problems in black America makes sense on the surface, but it lacks the insight necessary to understand the intricacies of solving a 400-year-old problem.

This week when I appeared on a radio show hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton, I noticed that Rev. Sharpton began talking a lot about Jell-O. Besides making me hungry, I couldn't really put my finger on why he kept referring to something I hadn't eaten since my days in the school cafeteria. Then, I thought, "Oh, maybe he's referring to Bill Cosby."

I wasn't sure why Cosby suddenly entered the conversation, since we weren't talking about him before the commercial break. But Sharpton's show can be full of surprises, like last week when we got a surprise phone call by New York Gov. David Paterson. I am usually amazed and impressed with how Rev. Sharpton's work in civil rights has become the sociopolitical highway through which most of our celebrities, athletes and political leaders travel. It takes a great deal of work to manage that many relationships, which is something I'd never want to do myself.

After a few minutes, Cosby came on the air, and I just listened. When Cosby is talking, there isn't much room for anyone else to say anything; you just allow him to go on about whatever he wants, for as long as he wants. You try to keep up, but you usually find that to be impossible. But perhaps at the age of 73, Cosby has become a respected godfather of the African American community. For that reason, I don't interrupt him either.

At any rate, much of the conversation didn't just center on Cosby and his birthday. It also centered on our community and the state of the black athlete in America. I began with a discussion about the recent suicide of former NBA player Melvin Turpin. Turpin was a star at the University of Kentucky in the 1980s, and recently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. While I did not know Melvin Turpin personally, I do know that he was "educated" during the corrupt athletic regime of the University of Kentucky, when the school was nearly given the death penalty by the NCAA for having so many ethics violations. The fact that Turpin was a security guard when he died, along with the fact that his good friend Dirk Minniefield mentioned that Turpin was bothered by the embarrassment of coming back to Kentucky as a security guard, says that Turpin may not have been happy with his professional life when he died. I would imagine that most of us don't commit suicide when things are going well.

The point in all this is that I wonder just how well Turpin was educated during his time with the University of Kentucky. Perhaps if his educational experience had been more meaningful, he would have had professional opportunities that went beyond becoming a security guard. When I add his experience to the recent arrest of former Kentucky star Antoine Walker (who is now broke and possibly going to prison, by the way), and the fact that this school has one of the lowest GPAs of all schools making it to the NCAA tournament, I see a prototype for how the African American athlete continues to be exploited by the NCAA. Kentucky is not alone in this regard, for this kind of thing happens to black male athletes all across America.

But the institutions are not the only ones responsible for the tragedy of the black male athlete in America. We must find ways to constructively modify the culture of the black athlete in order to help young men understand that there are many avenues to greatness that don't involve dribbling a basketball or throwing a football. We must cheer for them just as hard when they make good grades as we did when they scored three touchdowns during the previous week. We must also help them understand that beyond being great on the field, academic greatness and intellectual development are critical dimensions of the blueprint to success in America. A $100-million athlete who remains uneducated is eventually going to find that someone else has taken all of his money. (You ever hear about sports agents going broke? I thought not.)

The point of this discussion, as well as our organization (ALARM: The Athlete Liberation Academic Reform Movement), is not to say that black men should not share our amazing athletic gifts with the world. It is to say that intellectual development goes hand-in-hand with athletic achievement. It is also to say that the powerful platforms on which black athletes stand can be used for things other than doing another McDonald's commercial. The sleeping giant called the African American male will eventually wake up, and when he does, things are going to change in America. The conversation between myself, Rev. Sharpton and Cosby is below. Enjoy!





Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the Athlete Liberation and Academic Reform Movement (ALARM). To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.