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August 23, 2017
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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.