Dr. Alvin Poussaint: "African American Communities Can Be Lifted Up"

Cherry Hill Courier Post (New Jersey) does a Q&A session with the famous psychologist, who recently collaborated with comedian Bill Cosby on "Come On People: On The Path From Victims To Victors," a book aimed at inspiring black people to tackle issues that are destroying some families and communities:

Bill Cosby spent three years holding "call outs" for African Americans across the country to discuss community issues, and some of the participants' comments are in the book. What has kept you and Cosby talking about issues some African Americans appear uncomfortable to deal with in a public forum?

We've had some people say we're airing dirty laundry and that it will reinforce stereotypes some white people hold. But white people who are bigoted will have those opinions anyway. During the call outs, it was very surprising that thousands of people turned out, (they were) middle class, low income, ex-prison inmates, former prostitutes. They spoke about problems our communities face and what they felt had to be done about it. These people are not ashamed to speak out. They're not in denial and they don't believe the problems that face black people are a secret. By not talking about these issues and confronting them, black people will get stuck in the same place.

In the book, you argue that African Americans can and have overcome systemic racism by focusing on what they need to do to achieve and refusing to see themselves as victims. To what extent does a sense of victimization explain the social and economic disparities that exist between African Americans and others?

Black people have been and are victims in a lot of ways. Every year, we can cite something much worse than what happened in Jena, La. But you don't yield to that and quit and give up. If we did do that, we'd never be where we are today. Black people started out poor. They have achieved in professions in every field. They did that while being victimized. What counts is that individuals can overcome barriers and hurdles. We're encouraging people to continue to hold those attitudes and not to succumb to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. We're not denying there is racism. But that doesn't mean you should drop out of high school. A lot of young people do bad things to themselves, then they blame their problems on someone else. If you use crack or become a drug addict, those are choices you're making. We haven't paid enough attention to the self-destructive things we do in our communities. Someone has to speak out strongly against these things. Some people accuse (him and Cosby) of being too harsh. I don't see how (black people) can be harsh enough when we see 14- and 15-year-old black boys and girls lying dead from a bullet wound. Gangsta rap normalizes degrading things. It actually promotes that being a thug is being hip. We shouldn't have been sitting around accepting that stuff.

You seem to be especially reaching out to poor African Americans. Are they listening and what has been the general response?

A lot of people are coming out to (Cosby's) call outs. I think a lot of them know what we're trying to do. Some have gone back to get their GEDs. Some have rejected us out of hand as old fuddy-duddies.

Your book includes self-help strategies on how to parent better, build wealth, create supportive communities and develop positive role models for black youth. To be effective, the strategies would need to be widely adopted by African Americans. How can that be done?

To turn things around, there must be more collaboration between social services, civic organizations, parents. In upstate New York, social agencies, families, the criminal justice system are forming a task force to see how their services can be used to support each other's goals. We've got groups such as the 100 Black Men going out to mentor youth. We have the Girls and Boys Clubs to help get young people on the right track. There's no one way to address all the issues. We need a lot of players -- churches, black males, anyone who wants to take this on. It's not one initiative that will do it. Forming a synergy will make a difference and maybe inspire some people to take a different tack.

Any further thoughts about the book?

We're saying, care for yourself and have faith in yourself. Be constructive and love your community and have a spirit of wanting to help each other. Move forward, and take the high road."