Merriam-Webster (who ain't always right but you can use as a guide sometimes) tells us that the word, "image" is a 13th century word coming from origins such as the Latin imitari, meaning "to imitate", stating that an image is "a reproduction or imitation of the form of a person or thing . . . especially an imitation in solid form." Just think about that for a minute. What we see or know as an image is supposed to be an imitation, you know, keepin' it real on another level. Ask yourself how much of the images we see in America, obsessed with so-called "reality TV," which is really manufactured realism, a fake kind of reality, that is supposed to be you in solid form. Images are extremely important because that which we think about, we have every potential to become. It is not true that everything that one thinks about one must become. If that were the case, all the folks you have thought about killing in your lifetime or at least throwing down a flight of concrete stairs would be a done deal. But you have another mind that resists some of your foremost temptations. Be thankful, that's me talkin' to you tellin' you to think again, Slim.

During the 1980's, there was one television show that captured the imagination of the American public every Thursday at 8pm. (I'm wondering how many of you saw the Cosby Show reunion airing May 19, 2002? If you saw it and want to chat about it, get at me.)

If you grew up during the 80's, you watched The Cosby Show at some point in time. Maybe you thought it was corny. Maybe you couldn't relate cuz your peeps were broke. Maybe you liked it but still couldn't relate. Maybe you wanted to relate. Whatever the reason, at some point, everybody was watching The Cosby Show. I remember the show was criticized by Whites for not depicting the reality of Black life, like we didn't come from ancient civilizations and like we all lived broke and in the 'hood. I remember the show was also criticized by Blacks for not protesting enough, for Bill Cosby laughing and joking too much and for not depicting Black life in terms of "keepin' it real." That's not the phrase that was used but that was the idea.

And this is where I want to emphasize the importance of images. Other than one's own imagination, television replaces most of the images we have of things. You know how you can read a book and then see the movie and you never find it to be better than the book? That's because nothing is better than your own imagination. In the long run, I advocate more turning off of the television set.

But peep this. You remember that supposed boycott the NAACP was going to issue against the major networks for their lack of diversity on television, not having ANY major characters in any of their shows be Black, Latino or Native American?

On June 5, 2002, CNN.com ran a story entitled, "TV diversity still lags." According to the study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, they found that, "Despite the large number of African Americans on television, they continue to be 'ghettoized.'"

Don't revise the definiton of the word ghetto. Remember, ghettos were started in Europe as a precursor to genocide, not as something to actually be proud of and a condition in which to relish. This doesn't mean the peeps inside the ghetto don't strive for something more but I'm sayin'... now we relish it instead of actively protesting against our essentially inhuman living conditions and ridiculously disparate existence - but back to the article.

Apparently, "Black characters were more likely to appear in comedies, with 39 percent of all black characters in sitcoms compared to 31 percent for whites, 23 percent for Hispanics and 21 percent for Asians." You know what that means, right? It means we are still a goddamned joke. But you know what's worse than that? It's like we lost the trickster element of our jokes. See, back in the day, the peeps loved Stepin' Fetchit because contrary to popular believe, he played two roles---one for the white folx to get his money cuz that was the ONLY way they would let us in and the other for the Black folx (his peeps) to make fun of the very white folx who were paying him to actually make fun of them without knowing it. Now that, family, is artistry. The trickster is Eshu in Yoruba/Ifa ideology, it's Anansi in the Caribbean, Brer Rabbit in American popular folklore and for all the hip hop heads, it was Flavor Flav of Public Enemy. The "fool" in Shakespearean theatrical presentation was always the wise one, always the one whom you least expected but who got you in the end. Now you tell me, these days, who's zoomin' who? Other than Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, Bernie Mac, Dave Chappell and an occasional demonstration from D. L. Hughley, who is laughing at who in America? Comedy is supposed to be subversive, it's supposed to have a message, comedians are supposed to be artful, insightful cultural critics. Think of all the Def Jams, Comedy Centrals, Night at the Apollos and BET comedy shows and can you count on your hands the people who have mastered the art of Black comedy? Can anybody measure up to Paul Mooney, Richard Pryor, Frank Ajaye or Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle) or Keenan Ivory Wayans (In Living Color)? Think about it. This is not an all-inclusive list but if we put up the names of all the Black comedians on the circuit and on television right now, who is offering the incisive cultural critique necessary to take us to another level? Yet peeps love to criticize Stepin' Fetchit and speak about him as though he's something to be ashamed of. Child, please, I'm sure he's rollin' over in his grave, especially these days because we have a choice to play these roles and many times it seems we play the coon and don't even need the money. Best believe Lincoln Kirkpatric never played a coon off the set, feel me? Okay, so back to The Cosby Show. Bill Cosby was a comedian who made all kinds of folks laugh when he performed his comedy. But what did he do once he got enough money to enact his own vision, hmmmmm?

The reunion explored the show thematically (meaning they followed themes like children lying to their parents, making mistakes, husband and wife relations, etc., instead of chronologically) and I was on the floor. But it got deep when they started talking about the "backstage" mandates that came from Bill Cosby, Ed.D., himself. Peep it:

1. Bill Cosby demanded that the majority of the people working on the show would be African American (including cameramen, writers, etc.). He did not beg the network personalities, he told them that is the way it would be. Note the difference.

2. In addition to exploring all of the innermost funny moments of Black family life and family life, in general, they utilized the expert consultations of Dr. Alvin Poussaint, child psychologist to make sure that their interactions were realistic but, most importantly, healthy.

3. Speaking of healthy, they insisted that no child would be struck nor any disregarded in any manner. I know everybody thinks that beating the crap out of their kids, humiliating them in public and ignoring them while the game is on is some sort of new age parenting but Bill Cosby wanted to show a different world from the slave world we came from in our most recent history. How about that? Have you made the connection to getting "whippings" yet?

4. The purposefully placed images consistent throughout the years. Phylicia Rashad said that you don't always have to get up on a soapbox and make a protest speech. Sometimes you can just "be" who you're going to "be", make no apologies and assert your reality as THE reality for you and your family. And this is what they did. They always had Black art in the background (you know, Romare Bearden, etc.), a full-fledged celebration of Black music--jazz, blues, African, salsa---including bringing Dizzy Gillespie and Miriam Makeba to the set to educate us all, pictures of Historically Black Colleges and Universities on ALL of the T-shirts Bill Cosby wore, which created an easy transition to the spinoff, A Different World (remember when Denise went off to college, then Lance and Charmagne, etc?) and a total celebration of the whole Black family, biological and extended welcoming more grandchildren, husbands, other grandparents, Cousin Pam and all the different kids in the neighborhood who came over, including the little fat, white boy named Pete. What we saw with The Cosby Show, in between and as a result of all the laughter, was a consistent, deliberate demonstration of Black love.

5. The exposure to a host of wonderful, African Diasporic people throughout the Diaspora (B.B. King, Lena Horne, Tito Puente) and to those who would get cameo appearances on the show but later become major stars such as Angela Bassett, Vanessa Williams (from Soul Food), Joseph Phillips, etc.

People said The Cosby Show did not depict Black life accurately. But instead of capitulating to the peoples' demands and/or short-sightedness, Bill Cosby and company decided to CREATE the images that were necessary for all of us to grow as human beings and to show the love, culture and humanity of Black life so often demeaned, degraded or downright dismissed.

This is what is missing from today's so-called artists, particularly those considered the most popular, bubble-gum rappers who don't know how to create anything except more trouble for themselves and a generation of young people who revel in hopelessness, unobtainable narcissism, and self-hatred.

We owe our ancestors more than that. We owe the Huxtable family more than that. We owe ourselves more than that.

When I was fourteen years old, I went to a play and met Phylicia Rashad, who just so happened to have a seat near me. I had already loved her so much on television, I was speechless. She broke my silence by giving me a big hug and asking me what school I went to and if I liked it. I'll never forget that moment. She was just like the woman on TV and she exemplified beauty, grace, wit, intelligence and strength. And she was brown, just like me. On stage on the night of the reunion, Rashad said that Bill Cosby purposefully asked for a television wife who was very intelligent, accomplished and witty. She said he *celebrated* her intelligence, *marveled* at her ingenuity and *admired* her wit. He even wanted someone fluent in Spanish and there she was hablanda espanol con no problemas, nunca. Que magnificente! And who knew that at the turn of the 21st century, the Latino community would be the largest minority group in the United States? What better way to emphasize intercultural communication and unity than to have been willing to learn and express oneself in another language? The Cosby Show was prophetic in many dimensions. Unfortunately, it was NEVER awarded an Emmy and I don't think it was ever even nominated.

Bill Cosby took a moment in the show to honor Phylicia Rashad as an accomplished, celebrated actress who, despite her intelligence and artistry, was *never* honored with even so much as a nomination for anything. Thus, Cosby gave her at least four dozen roses on stage, which were placed in both of her arms and he backed away, letting her have the spotlight center stage, so that she could be honored in the manner she should have decades ago. She started crying and it was certainly a moment for tears of both sadness and joy. When it comes down to it, we must honor each other and never, ever wait for "the man" or anything in mainstream America to recognize our worth and value.

The whole thing was beautiful and, overall, it was a stellar example of all that we do *not* have today on mainstream television or in mainstream America, for that matter.

I'm disappointed that Lisa Bonet did not suck up "whatever" and come back for the reunion. After all, it's bigger than her, as an individual.

I was *exceptionally* disappointed, no, let me change that, I DETESTED the presence of Sean "P. Dummy" Combs.

Let's think . . . of all people, of *all* people to interview for this, they chose Fluffy??!! And he was so embarrassing. I sat there watching Raven, Malcolm, Keshia, Sondra, and Tempestt exist in essentially total opposition to what Fluffy displayed in maturity, emotional development and intelligence. They were articulate and on national (and probably international) TV and it was obvious everytime they opened their mouths. Yet when Fluffy discussed the show, all he could talk about was how the Huxtables had a "fly crib," how Mr. Huxtable had a "fine wife," how Denise Huxtable was "good God" and the woman every male wanted (which may have been true but damn, Fluffy) and Cosby's clothes, specifically his sweaters.

It's not like others had not noticed those things but could you have at least sounded half-intelligent?

When juxtaposed with the rest of the Cosby kids, he seemed to exemplify the sheer REGRESSION and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT of my generation. It's so painful to watch, even as a member. And Sean has about ten times more money than the Huxtables ever had. Yet he displayed no class.

I asked myself just what the studio execs were going for interviewing him. Why not interview someone young who exemplifies the *tradition* of the Cosby Show? Why not interview, say, the Hudlin Brothers or Savion Glover (maybe) or T'Keyah Crystal Keymah or Aaron MacGruder or, or . . . I don't know, anybody but Puffy.

Still, it didn't ruin the reunion for me. I loved it and I will cherish this and continue watching The Cosby Show on Nick at Night every night.

What I would really like to send home is how important it is to CREATE images that are visionary, mature and substantive. These days, it's easy to pick up a digital camera and put anything down. Snoop has children. Ice-T has a son whom he thinks is okay to teach that he's a "pimp," and Fluffy has children, too. So many of these so-called gangsta and bad boy hip hoppers have children and you have to wonder just what kind of a world do they raise their children in? Do they let them listen to their own raps and if not, why is it okay to make our children bottom feeders while they get rich off of the sewage like some shrimp or catfish or something? I will tell you that they do NOT let their kids watch much of what they create and their children go to private schools with private tutors and don't live the desperation of poverty so many of our people live in today. With the disparity between the wealthy and the poor growing in such vast numbers in America, we will need to create images that offer hope, upliftment, the transcendence of one's environment and those that say it is not only our right but responsibility to struggle for a better society and a better world.

Well, I've torn down and lifted up enough for one article. There will be much more to come from Oya, the hurricane. Hit me up if you're ready to participate in the winds of change.