Foreword
by Bill Cosby
When we had a houseboat in San Francisco Bay in the late 1960s, Mrs. Cosby and I, we would watch the news on TV. And there would be Belva Davis, out reporting stories and anchoring the newscasts. And my wife looked at me and said, “That’s the most relaxed woman I’ve ever seen at being perfect.”
What’s important to remember is that those of us who made history, those of us who were among the first of our race to do some particular thing in the United States, disproved fallacies that said our lips wouldn’t allow us to pronounce words properly; that our brains wouldn’t allow us to write, to speak, to make anyone understand anything; and then, of course, that our color would not only turn off viewers but lead them to turn us off as well. Belva Davis, like tennis star Althea Gibson, like educator and presidential advisor Mary McLeod Bethune, carried it off. She made covering the news look so natural, so easy, that people couldn’t believe that it was her job.
Belva Davis was someone who sustained us, who made us proud. We looked forward to seeing her prove the stereotypical ugliness of those days to be wrong. She was the first woman of color that many viewers came to know and trust, and she met that challenge with integrity and dignity and grace.
We had first become acquainted some years earlier, when I was doing standup comedy at clubs like the hungry i in San Francisco, and Belva was a disc jockey on black radio station KDIA in Oakland. I was first her interview subject, then her studio guest on her own radio show, and then her friend. I was happy to take the stage and formally introduce her when she was honored with the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She has always had energy to burn, whether she’s gathering the news or fighting for minority rights or producing a community event.
People should know that Belva Davis is a pure, pure woman—warm and generous. But they also should know that they should be careful if they haven’t behaved or been fair or honest. When this lady puts pen to paper, the world had better watch out.