Say what you will about Bill Cosby, but his groundbreaking sitcom was and forever shall be linked to positive black images as well as countering racism. His show promoted African-American and African music, art, culture, history, and struggle even if the show was weak in tackling issues of daily experiences with racism that lower-class blacks encounter. I recently re-discovered that one of my favorite singers, Miriam Makeba, from South Africa, appeared on the show in "Olivia Comes Out of the Closet." As a child, I grew up watching the show and never made the connection that the famous international music legend and anti-apartheid activist Makeba appared on The Cosby Show. She speaks eloquently on the natural beauty of the African continent, the struggles against obstacles in South Africa (presumably a subtle way of referring to the anti-apartheid movement), and the mainstream depictions of Africa in totalizing narratives of poverty and chaos. Rest in peace, Makeba, I, as a younger soul, devoured not only your words but other well-known stars and figures in the African and African diasporic communities. Watch the clip I could find on youtube here.
I also wrote about The Cosby Show in a separate post that began a few years ago with a friend asking about my thoughts on the show's relevance to race relations. That can be found here if anyone is interested.
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