Dear America: I have a confession....Bill Cosby raped me. Yes, it was during the Cosby show hey day. From my living room, he stripped societys stereotype of the African American family. He drugged me into a consciousness that my African American, 2 parent home, with kids, was normal. He forced me to recognize that the life we lived was nothing special, it was normal. My parents strong work ethic, our love for each other, and my aspirations to attend college was not a dream, it was expected. Cosby forced society to accept this segment of African Americans lives as normal. He raped me of the negative stereotype that society had placed on me. Instead of thinking I was destined to be a high school drop out, a pregnant teen, or drug addict. He forced the world to see our parenting skills. Where, my parents helped me realize that the Air Force, college, graduate school, and a career were my options and that my dreams mattered, were obtainable and the world was mine. Cosby drugged the America to share my dreams, to assist in making them unfold and to see me as a human. His portrayal of Americas dad....helped blur the color line. During the Cosby show...we were just humans....not racially defined. He was a dad struggling with his lovely wife to raise a family....and we loved him for it. Why am I coming forward 30 years later? Because when I look at all I have accomplished, I have to lay the blame somewhere. As I travel around the world, make friends who look opposite of me and work together towards goals. I believe Bill Cosby had a hand in this. Pretty sad that these women went thru a difficult, disgusting situation and I am sorry. Because no one should have to endure that. Nor have to hold a secret and feel ashamed, this is truly horrible. Again, I am sorry. So America, where do we go from here? You now realize he is human. By the way, most of the African American community knew this already. Especially with his last rants about the younger generation lack of dignity and respect, we realized he was becoming a grumpy old man. But this is no excuse for his alleged behavior. Realizing his humanity seems shocking to you. However, now this has become a public lynching and what good does it serve? America has a habit of doing this, think of Mike Tyson, Micheal Vick and countless other men of color. We get it...they were wrong. When is enough...enough? How many more women need to come forward? What is served by airing his dirty laundry? If Bill Cosby is guilty....his statue of limitations will not be up when his time is up. Whether you believe in Hell or Karma...his day will come. Lets focus on forgiveness and move on. Lets focus on the real issues at hand, police officers are killing our young men at an alarming rate. Unemployment in the African American community is still high, school shootings are becoming normal, homelessness is still rampant and there is hunger around the world and it is here in America. These are real issues that affect us all. Bill Cosby, I forgive you. I moved on a long time ago. Love, Marie #BillCosbyishuman #enoughidenough #teamforgiveness #moveontorealissues
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 19:29:21 +0000