 |
 |
 |
|
Bruce: The states need to talk to each other. This whole program needs to be put on a computer. It's happening slowly. But it's a ticking clock. Every month, 18-year-old kids age out of the system; and if they don't get help, then they're gonna go into the other bad system: jail.
Bruce: Up until 3 months ago, there wasn't a national foster care fund. There was no overall program that serves all 50 states. There is now. There's a national foster care fund that is a gathering spot for people in the industry; for other people who want to help. There are, to quote one of our, past presidents and a good friend of mine--George Bush Sr.--to use his metaphor of a thousand points of light--what I found in the last 2 years is that there are thousands, hundreds of thousands, of small grass roots outreach programs to help these kids in foster care, but it's not tied together. And that's our goal over the next couple of years is to connect everybody via computer.
Shows like this, and we need those cameras. We need cameras aimed at problems that some get in, you know, the newspapers, radio, because it's sensational because there's an abuse in the system. Some kid's got hurt or hit. You hear about those kind of things.
The states need to talk to each other. This whole program needs to be put on a computer. It's happening slowly. But it's a ticking clock. Every month, 18-year-old kids age out of the system; and if they don't get help, then they're gonna go into the other bad system: jail.
It's easy to talk about all the bad things that are happening in the system, but I would also like to talk about "Ephraim's Song" and how well these kids have come together from schools all over Los Angeles and put together this really, really great show that I think comes from their heart. And it's about their experiences. It's entertaining. It's done by these kids, and it needs to be talked about.
Tavis: What do you think a program like this--like this play I speak of now, Ced, specifically can do to advance this issue?
Cedric: Well, I think it's one that it is of the generation. And again, like you said, it's highly involved with the kids. The kids are highly involved all the way through the production, both onstage and behind the stage. And I just think that they talk about the issues the way they talk about it--in a very hip-hop culture, Generation X kind of manner. The kids want to help themselves, and hopefully we plan on doing forums after performances and inviting other political dignitaries to become involved, to see how we can increase the awareness, increase the ways that we can help these kids in the foster care system.
Tavis: What do you make of the fact, Bruce, that--let me take your earlier point. I think you're right--there is some good that's happening in the foster care system.
Bruce: A lot of good.
Tavis: A lot of good. The flip side of that is, though, that once this system that you are talking about is up in place and all the states are connected and the paperwork is no longer done by hand but we got it computerized, et cetera, et cetera--disabuse me of the notion that Americans are still not going to be interested in adopting kids here at home.
And I raise that because, as you well know, we got a long list of kids here in America in foster care who would love to have a home, who want to be adopted, and people will go outside of the country to places and parts around the world to adopt other kids before the fact they won't even take a look at our foster care system here at home. Why is that?
Bruce: Way too much red tape.
Tavis: Red tape? Is that it?
Bruce: Red tape is the number-one obstacle, I think. And there are millions of parents who, for one reason or another can't have kids who want to help. And those people are at opposite ends of the spectrum right now. We need to bring those people together and make it much simpler to be able to help. And you don't have to adopt. You can be a foster parent. You can be a big brother. You can be a mentor.
There's so many ways to help, and what we need to do is in this sound byte culture we live in is to in just a few sentences to say, "Here's how you can help. If you want to do this, you can do this. Here's a phone number to call. Call us up and help." And those kinds of phone numbers don't exist right now. It's so hard to find.
Tavis: One could argue--to piggyback on something you said earlier--that in the culture and in the world that we live now, that people are turning more nativist--that is to suggest people are turning more inward now. They're concerned about their own welfare, their own condition. People are trying to fight their own, uh, social and economic and political and cultural disenfranchisement, again, turning more nativist and not concerned about other folk. How do you make a subject like this, then, to my earlier point, that's not altogether sexy? How do you get people to pay attention to it?
Bruce: There are a lot of people out there that want to help. I agree that there are a lot of people, but, look, everybody here's thinking about, "What am I gonna do today? How am I gonna solve my problems? How am I gonna do this?" But there are a lot of people that do want to help, who do open their hearts and we meet great people every year who have adopted not one but 7 kids and will open their hearts. And there are a lot of people out there like that. I have hope that in those kind of folks that do want to help. It's not a problem that you're just gonna flip a switch and solve.
Cedric: I'll tell you how you make it sexy. You saw the NBA draft this year. Half the kids were right out of high school.
Tavis: Yeah.
Cedric: Coulda been one of yours.
Tavis: Yeah. Ha ha ha!
Cedric: Foster kids. You get your 6 or 7. That's sexy there.
Tavis: You get the right one.
Cedric: You get--you know, you play the numbers. Play the numbers out. Get your 10 or 12 foster kids.
Tavis: See, you're being funny about it. You're being--
Cedric: That's sexy, right?
Tavis: Yes, that's sexy. That's sexy.
Cedric: Right out of high school. No college or nothin'.
Tavis: You're being funny about this, and I don't want to get morbid or--or macabre or too serious about this, but you also know--I don't want to get too political, either, but I'm just trying to keep it real here. You know, though, that since there is a disproportionate number of kids of color--black kids--who are in the foster care system--they really are interested, those future hall of famers, those future NBA players, future NFL players. To your joke, those kids are the ones crying out the most to get some attention. Black folk are doing better now than we ever have before. We got a stronger middle class than we ever have had before. Maybe Bruce is right that it's red tape. But there's still a lot of black kids who crying out for some help and some attention, and we are ignoring the problem.
Cedric: We do, and I think we have to encourage again that it is an encouragement and a strong drive pushing for family values. You may even think about, like our generation--we grew up that--we never really--it was very rare you heard about foster care kids. I mean, you know, if something happened to your mama and daddy, then you go and live with your aunt. I mean, you don't really do that now. I mean, it's like people are just kinda into themselves, and so what we have to do is again make sexy the opportunity and what family is--the growth of the friendship--sharing with one another, understanding that, and understanding that a child has something to offer if you can give them love and--and show them that, and usually you can get it reciprocated back, too. And so I just think that we have to continue to do things like this. This is entertainment. It's live. "Ephraim's Song" is a show. It's Broadway, and it's energy. It's dance. And it has some life to it. It's not me preaching you the story of another...
Tavis: Foster kid.
Cedric: Another foster care child. I'm gonna show you. These kids, they have abilities. You know. They can do things, and they're fun, and they light, and they write, and they direct, and it's real interesting to see this kind of--
Tavis: I need to come see it, and the one that has the most talent, maybe I'll adopt him or her. Ha ha ha! I'm just teasin'. Just teasin'. Lost your point. Ha ha ha!