Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint is Director of the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston. He is also a Professor of Psychiatry and Faculty Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School.

He is co-author, with James P. Comer, M.D., of Raising Black Children, 1992; and co-author, with Amy Alexander, of Lay My Burden Down, 2000.

He has written dozens of articles for lay and professional publications. In 1997, he received a New England Emmy award for Outstanding Children's Special as co-executive producer of Willoughby's Wonders.

Dr. Poussaint is an expert on race relations in America, the dynamics of prejudice, and issues of diversity as our society becomes increasingly multicultural. He believes that extreme (violent) racists suffer from a delusional mental illness. He lectures widely on college campuses and also serves as a consultant to government agencies and private corporations.

In addition, he is active in consulting to the media on a wide range of social issues. He is concerned with media images and issues regarding the needs of children and the changing family; he has been active in the national TV rating and V-chip discussions. He is a strong proponent of non-violent parenting and parenting education.

Born in East Harlem, he attended Columbia and received his M.D. from Cornell University in 1960. He completed his postgraduate training at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Neuropsychiatric Institute, where he served as Chief Resident in Psychiatry in 1964-65. At UCLA, he pursued research in psychopharmacology.

From 1965 to 1967, he was Southern Field Director of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi, providing medical care to civil rights workers and aiding in the desegregation of health facilities throughout the South. He is former chair of the board of directors of PUSH for Excellence.

In 1967, after leaving Mississippi, Dr. Poussaint joined the Tufts Medical School faculty as director of a psychiatry program in a low-income housing development. In 1969, he joined Harvard. From 1975-1978 he was Director of Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School. He was a script consultant to NBC's The Cosby Show and continues to consult to the media as an advocate of more responsible programming.

He is a life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and a fellow of the American Orthopsychiatric Association. He has received numerous awards and is the recipient of many honorary degrees.

Bill Cosby Biography :

Comedian, writer, television producer. Born William Henry Cosby on July 12, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rather than repeat the tenth grade, he left school and joined the navy. While attending Temple University on an athletic scholarship, he appeared at New York's Gaslight Cafe (1962), where his comic routines were so successful that he left college to pursue a career in entertainment.

In 1965, Cosby became the first African American actor to star in a weekly television dramatic series, I Spy (1965–8), winning two Emmys as an undercover Central Intelligence Agency agent. Later series were The Bill Cosby Show (1969–71), The New Bill Cosby Show (1972–3), and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972–84). His interest in children and education led him to earn MA and EdD degrees at the University of Massachusetts and to incorporate many of his ideas and ideals in his work.

As obstetrician Cliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show (1984–1992), he projected a new image of middle-class African-American families, and the programme was one of the most popular and lucrative in television history. His gentle, wry clowning appealed to both children and adults, leading to a series of successful TV commercials, comedy records, and books, and making him one of the wealthiest people in the history of the American entertainment industry. Only his films failed to be money-makers.

In later years, Cosby has become a generous contributor to various causes and institutions, particularly Atlanta's Spelman College, and is often seen at track-and-field meets for amateur athletes, to which he also contributes. In 2003 he was honoured with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.

Cosby married his wife Camille in 1964, and the couple had five children, Erika Ranee, Erinn Chalene, Ensa Camille, Evin Harrah and Ennis William. Tragically, Ennis was shot to death while changing a flat tire on the side of a Los Angeles freeway in 1997.

From Publisher

Loaded with heart-piercing stories of the problems facing many communities, this engaging volume has a powerful message for families as the authors lay out their visions for strengthening America.

Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint have a powerful message for families and communities as they lay out their visions for strengthening America, or for that matter the world. They address the crises of people who are stuck because of feelings of low self-esteem, abandonment, anger, fearfulness, sadness, and feelings of being used, undefended and unprotected. These feelings often impede their ability to move forward. The authors aim to help empower people make the daunting transition from victims to victors. Come On, People! is always engaging, and loaded with heart-piercing stories of the problems facing many communities.