Page 6 Portland Observer, March 9, 1983
McCoy, Multnomah County C om ­
missioner and William McCoy, state
senator.
V ivian
Richardson,
Ronee
Walker and Lynn Perry, with a van­
load o f Portland State University
students, also made the trip to Sa­
lem to hear Dick Gregory.
T W A S D IC K G R E G O R Y Day
copies o f his own Files kept by that
agency: "Chicago should develop
in Oregon one day recently. It
was Wednesday. February 23, dur­ counter-intelligence efforts to neu­
tralize him.” Again, "W hy?"
ing Black History Month, when the
Racism and racial myths receive
famous comedian, iconoclast, lec­
Gregory's attention—and that of his
turer, author of 12 books, and hu­
audiences through the day as he
man rights activist awoke at 4:00
brings them to relax and to laugh at
a m. H ab itu ally he arises at this
their own foibles. He poked fun at
hour to walk and to drink in the
"soul food (it'll kill y o u )," and at
early sun and to commune with his
life in the black ghetto where white
••God Force.”
people fear to come " ( I t ’ s your
Later Gregory is to go on to Sa­
country too.)”
lem to keep speaking engagements
Press conferences and talk show
there. But first, he is to appear on
interviews were granted fo r m id­
the Portland T .V . show, " A M .
day. Lunch doesn’t matter to Dick
Northwest,” at K ATU and on a pre­
Gregory as he has already entered a
taping session for a later telecast at
40-day
fasting period in recognition
Ch. 6.
o f "W o rld H unger." He sips fruit
Arrangements for Dick Gregory
juices instead, and turns inward to
in Oregon were made by the Minor­
his “ God Force."
ity Action Committee o f the Third
A short rest in a dormitory room
World Student Organization of W il­
and Gregory is ready to be whisked
lamette University. Wanda Irving
by limousine to the Oregon State
and Sam Irving are coordinators for
prison. A down-state reporter chal­
this event. Carol Colley is Intercul-
lenges Gregory's mode of travel and
tural Student Counselor for the
his sponsors explain that the ride in
group. Sam Irvine and Dean M .
the lim o, a Lincoln Presidential
Richardson acted as ambassador
Eagle, is a gift, a courtesy tendered
for the guest of honor.
by the Prestige Limousine Service of
McMinnville.
The day’s schedule as we arrive in
Gregory pulls no punches when
Salem is full and tight. It starts with
he speaks to the some 500 inmates
Gregory's speech before students
of OSP. He gives them the essence
and guests o f the W illam ette
of his morning speech but adds a lit­
University College of Law. Gregory
tle extra jocularity, and he "walks
exhorts 200 rapt students to "ask
that walk" as he holds the mike and
questions,'* "exam ine the nega­
talks.
tives." He holds up for scrutiny the
"super-rich" persons and families
No stranger to prisons, Gregory
in America, he talks of the movie of
calls himself a "veteran occupant of
" G h a n d i," in which the life o f
some of the most prestigious jails in
Gandhi is depicted for three hours
the nation.” He has found himself
behind prison bars many times,
but. oddly, according to Gregory,
" w ith o u t a single scene showing
"tw ice serving 45 day sentences—
once in the state of Washington as a
that very devout man at prayer.”
result o f demonstrating with the
•Why? Why?" Gregory asks.
Nisqually Indians in their demand
The FBI also comes in for scath­
for full participation in American
ing remarks as Gregory reads from
I
L a te r, over 600 persons filled
Smith Auditorium on the W illa m ­
ette campus for the 8:00 p.m . ad­
dress. He shocks this audience with
his earthy language, he shakes them
up with some little known statistics:
"One pack of cigarettes has enough
radioactivity to equal 300 X-rays if
the tobacco was grown in a certain
section o f A m erica; black folks
spend 360 million dollars annually
for wine and champagne, 79 million
for chewing gum, 20 million for in­
stant potatoes and 15 m illion for
barbecue sauce.”
DICK GREGORY
society, and once in Chicago for
protesting de-facto segregation in
the Chicago public school system."
Afterwards, the prison audience
swarms about Gregory in adulation.
He has given them a key to make life
in prison more bearable by telling
them about the availability o f the
" G o d Force inside” them where
they are.
Prison gates open and close again
and Gregory departs.
There is a little time for relaxation
before the dinner meeting on
campus. Gregory sips more fru it
juice and takes a 15-minute nap to
freshen himself. The dinner will be a
gathering o f some 125 persons to
hear him.
Salem's Mayor Sue Harris, in her
welcome to Dick Gregory, presents
him with the Key to the C ity .
Among the guests at the dinner
party, hosted by Willamette's Third
world Students, are Derrick Bell,
dean o f the University o f Oregon
Law School at Eugene, Dean M .
Richardson, the C iv il Rights law
professor at W illam ette, who is
fasting this week in sympathetic tri­
bute to the honored guest, Gladys
W ho collects all these figures?
The Black Health Alliance for the
Chain Store Age Supermarkets and
the R .A . Johnson Associates o f
Brooklyn, New York.
Why do they collect them? To
show that black folk do have Finan­
cial power. What else?
Black people, white people, all to­
gether, crowd around Gregory to
shake his hand, lake a picture, ask
for an autograph. He responds to
each request quietly. He has been
without solid food fo r five days
now. He is hungry and thirsty and
he draws on his God Force to see
him through. He reflects on his be­
lief: "T he crest of life's highest pur­
pose is singular and complete devo­
tion to serving one’s fellow m an.”
The persons whose lives he has
touched today will not soon forget
his presence or his message.
The limousine slides up to the
curb. Dick Gregory's Day in Oregon
is complete.
Jeffrey Beaver. BALSA member : Dr. Derrick Bail, Deen. U. of O.
Law School: and Hiawatha Givens. Wlllamatta U. law student.
ICK G R EG O R Y Day in Ore­
Richardson, at Willamette, feels a
BALSA chapter would be helpful to
gon became a mecca in Salem
the eight law students enrolled there
and the campus o f W illam ette
and he is encouraging them to a ffil­
University for those persons inter­
iate.
ested in the law and human rights.
"The national organization serves
Hundreds of Oregonians flocked to
to highlight legal issues which affect
Smith Auditorium on February 23
black people but may seldom be ad­
to hear Dick Gregory the great so­
dressed in a white dominated law
cial activist when he made his major
school c u rric u lu m ," Bell stated.
public address that evening under
Richardson realizes this as well.
the auspices of the Third World Stu­
Both Bell and Richardson feel that
dents organization.
strong B A LS A chapters w ill en­
From Eugene came Derrick Beil,
hance the recruitment of more black
dean of the U. of Oregon law schoo.
people to Oregon's legal commu­
He and Dean M . Richardson, pro­
nity.
fessor of Civil Rights law at Willam­
The national conference o f
ette University, are promoting the
B A LS A is to be held in A tlan ta
fo rm ation o f a chapter o f Black
from March 23 to March 27. Since
American Law Students at W illam ­
the economic difficulties facing the
ette.
state o f Oregon have touched its
Currently, the University of Ore­
academic institutions severely, there
gon is the only Oregon law school
is little assistance to be expected for
with a B A L S A chapter, although
financing travel expenses for stu­
B A L S A chapters are to be found
dents interested in BALSA.
at most American law schools. The
Persons who wish to make a con­
Five blacks at U. of O ., according to
trib utio n to a B A L S A chapter at
Bell, organized (heir chapter a year
either school may send checks d i­
ago. The students find the chapter
rectly to Professor Dean M .
serves as a hub around which (heir
Richardson, c /o W illam ette Law
academic and social concerns re­
School, Salem, Oregon.
volve" Bell said.
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