I personally believe that Mr. Dyson makes some good points, and so do you. I believe that we should take responsibility for ourselves, our schools, our children and communities. I came from deep poverty in the South, the ghetto projects in Bessmer and Roosevelt City, Alabama. I have done well, so to speak. But I have not forgotten where I came from and how I got to where I am today.

There is no one reason for our condition and there is no one way out of it. If it's not a collective effort, it won't happen. Rap has its place, and as long as there is something the kids can relate to, it will be there. My generation started rap, and it has to go through its phases like everything else. The same conditions existed before rap and will exist after rap. Poverty and its conditions and after-effects are not new to the world. But just because one is poor does not mean that one has to be foul or disrespectful. The poor people in the United States are still richer than poor people in most countries in this world. But we are spoiled and don't understand the opportunities that we have.

Immigrants who come here have a full understanding of what we have to offer, because it's not offered in their countries. You are right in that our preachers, politicians, and so-called educated groups need to vocally and forcibly push education as a means to pull oneself up and out and then to reach back and help others. I don't feel that we have to copy the total language and culture of the majority in order to do so, because we would lose ourselves and what makes us unique in this culture.

This article should be read by every politician, minister, teacher, and any other person capable of and wanting to create even a small bit of change for the betterment of the black community. My heart aches for the many children that are so scarred by the time they enter kindergarten.

I noticed the mention of Juan William in the article; while I don't share his poitical views, he may be one of the only liberal commentators that strikes me as honest in his assessments of political issues.

I was struck by your reporting of Prof. Dyson's response to Bill Cosby's speeches--how he attributed the latter's accurate diagnosis of Black America's problems to a fawning desire to please mainstream White America.

I am a Zimbabwean man living here in the States, and I have been watching in horror as my homeland undergoes meltdown before my eyes. The most outrageous thing I have had to witness is the rhetoric that spews from Robert Mugabe, as time and again he attributes the opposition's accurate diagnosis of Zimbabwe's problems to a fawning desire to please our former (white) European colonizers.
I encourage you to look up his speeches for yourself. I for one can no longer be deceived by this tactic.