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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2017)
Page 4 August 23, 2017 Providing Insurance and Financial Services Home Office, Bloomington, Illinois 61710 Ernest J. Hill, Jr. Agent 4946 N. Vancouver Avenue, Portland, OR 97217 503 286 1103 Fax 503 286 1146 ernie.hill.h5mb@statefarm.com 24 Hour Good Neighbor Service R State Farm R When You Need Light 3901 N. Mississippi • 503-281-0453 • kay@lightlady.com www.sunlanlighting.com Terence Keller A full Service Realtor • List & Sell your House • Find your New Home • Help you Invest • Find you the Best Loan • Help with Pre-Sale Prep • Hold Open House to sell your home Portland is my Town Call Terence Keller 503 839-6126 Liberty Group Realtors Inc. terencekellersr@gmail.com • Oregon License 200306037 Comic Carved Niche as Political Voice Remembering activist Dick Gregory (AP) -- Dick Gregory, the co- median and activist and who broke racial barriers in the 1960s and used his humor to spread messag- es of social justice and nutritional health, died Saturday. He was 84. As one of the first black stand- up comedians to find success with white audiences, in the early 1960s, Gregory rose from an im- poverished childhood in St. Louis to win a college track scholarship and become a celebrated satirist who deftly commented upon ra- cial divisions at the dawn of the civil rights movement. Gregory’s sharp commentary soon led him into civil rights ac- tivism, where his ability to woo audiences through humor helped bring national attention to fledg- ling efforts at integration and so- cial equality for blacks. Gregory briefly sought politi- cal office, running unsuccessful- ly for mayor of Chicago in 1966 and U.S. president in 1968, when he got 200,000 votes as the Peace and Freedom party candidate. In the late ’60s, he befriended John Lennon and was among the voices heard on Lennon’s anti-war an- them “Give Peace a Chance,” re- corded in the Montreal hotel room where Lennon and Yoko Ono were staging a “bed-in” for peace. An admirer of Gandhi and Mar- tin Luther King Jr., Gregory em- braced nonviolence and became a Dick Gregory vegetarian and marathon runner. He preached about the trans- formative powers of prayer and good health. Once an overweight smoker and drinker, he became a trim, energetic proponent of liquid meals and raw food diets. In the late 1980s, he developed and dis- tributed products for the popular Slim-Safe Bahamian Diet. When diagnosed with lym- phoma in 2000, he fought it with herbs, exercise and vitamins. It went in remission a few years lat- er. He took a break from perform- ing in comedy clubs, saying the alcohol and smoke in the clubs were unhealthy and focused on lecturing and writing more than a dozen books, including an autobi- ography and a memoir. Gregory went without solid food for weeks to draw attention to a wide range of causes, includ- ing Middle East peace, American hostages in Iran, animal rights, police brutality, the Equal Rights Amendment for women and to support pop singer Michael Jack- son when he was charged with sexual molestation in 2004. Richard Claxton Gregory was born in 1932, the second of six children. His father abandoned the family, leaving his mother poor and struggling. Though the family often went without food or electricity, Gregory’s intellect and hard work quickly earned him honors, and he attended the mostly white Southern Illinois University. He started winning talent con- tests for his comedy, which he continued in the Army. After he was discharged, he struggled to break into the standup circuit in Chicago, working odd jobs as a postal clerk and car washer to sur- vive. His breakthrough came in 1961, when he was asked to fill in for another comedian at Chica- go’s Playboy Club. His audience, mostly white Southern business- men, heckled him with racist gibes, but he stuck it out for hours and left them howling. That job was supposed to be a one-night gig, but lasted two months -- and landed him a profile in Time magazine and a spot on “The Tonight Show.” His political passions were nev- er far from his mind -- and they hurt his comedy career. The nation was grappling with the civil rights movement, and it was not at all clear that racial integration could be achieved. At protest marches, he was repeatedly beaten and jailed. He remained active on the comedy scene until recently, when he fell ill. He is survived by his wife, Lillian, and 10 children.