Dick Gregory

by Mumia Abu-Jamal

Presidential-candidate-Dick-Gregory-clears-the-way-for-his-people-Norfolk-Va.-1068-by-AP-web-300x220, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents
Presidential candidate Dick Gregory clears the way for his people before speaking in Norfolk, Va., in October 1968. Throughout his life, he was a target of FBI and police surveillance. And he was virtually banned from the entertainment arena for his political activism. – Photo: AP

His name was Richard Claxton Gregory, born Oct. 12, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri. But the world knew him as Dick Gregory, comedian, human rights activist, social critic and presidential candidate.

As a young man, he won an athletic scholarship as a runner, which took him to college.

But he really hit his mark as a comedian who told sidesplitting jokes about American segregation and racism. He once joined Malcolm X at his 1964 speech at the Audubon Ballroom, a meeting of the Organization of African-American Unity in New York.

Gregory did what he always did: He told jokes. One of his most famous ones came after Malcolm introduced him as a “revolutionary” and “freedom fighter”: [Gregory]: “If the FBI ever taps your phone (like they tap mine) … See, they didn’t know … [The] FBI wasn’t used to tapping no colored folks’ phone. Yeah, they come in with $10,000 worth of equipment, so they could tap my phone, and two days after they set all that equipment up, my phone got cut off!”

The ballroom erupted in hearty laughter. Most of his bit was about J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI.

Dr.-Benjamin-Spock-Rev.-Ralph-Abernathy-Dick-Gregory-talks-with-Dr.-Martin-Luther-King-on-stage-by-Bettmann-Archive-300x226, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents
Dick Gregory talks with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as they sit on stage with Dr. Benjamin Spock and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. – Photo courtesy Bettmann Archive

It is chilling to note that the FBI regarded him as a “militant black nationalist” and his file was collected under the “Black nationalist hate group” section.

Gregory, fearlessly outspoken on a variety of social issues, once called the Mafia “the filthiest snakes that ever existed on this earth.”

What did the FBI do? They sent his statement to the Mafia! Truly. Imagine that.

Gregory was a friend to both Malcolm X and Martin L. King Jr.

He sacrificed a multimillion dollar comedy career to take the front lines of the Black Freedom struggle, where he suffered arrest, police beatings, and became a target of FBI discontent.

He lived thru 84 U.S. winters and in a 1968 presidential race, he garnered 47,712 votes.

Dick Gregory returns to his Ancestors.

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Dick Gregory: A life educating and seeking justice

by Rachel Mack

Introduction by KZ

FBI-memo-Use-mob-against-Dick-Gregory-Chicago-Tribune-031078-300x196, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents

 

The great civil rights activist Dick Gregory died this week. His book, “Nigger,” was published when I was 9 years old and had a long-lasting impact on my political development and views. He spoke at my university and helped to shape my political views and push me toward activism.

Dick-Gregory-visits-Occupy-DC-in-Freedom-Plaza-at-midnight-300x229, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents
Dick Gregory visits Occupy Washington, D.C., in Freedom Plaza at midnight.

When we organized the occupation of Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., he was a regular visitor and spoke at the event.

Gregory was feared by the political establishment. The Chicago Tribune reported this week that when he ran for mayor of Chicago and president of the United States, the FBI considered Gregory such a threat that Hoover ordered the Chicago office of the FBI to enlist the Outfit in an effort to “neutralize” the comedian during the race.

Not only did Hoover sic FBI agents on Gregory, he also sought to get the mafia to join the attack on Gregory. When the 1967 memos from the FBI were revealed to him, Gregory responded:  “This piece of paper has the director of the most powerful police agency in the history of the planet proposing to contact the Mafia so that they could work together.”

Gregory, one of the great activists of his era, was memorialized in the Americans Who Tell The Truth project. Below we reprint their description of Gregory and his work.

Dick Gregory: Comedian, social activist, writer, 1932-2017

Dick-Gregory-GÇÿto-be-forced-to-vote-for-the-lesser-of-two-evilsGÇÖ-art-by-Robert-Shetterly-AmericansWhoTellTheTruth-252x300, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents
Painting of Dick Gregory by Robert Shetterly for Americans Who Tell the Truth

“(T)o be forced to vote for the lesser of two evils is really to have no choice at all. … Under such circumstances the only real choice a person has is to exercise his right not to vote; to boycott the polls and refuse to participate in a process that mocks the concept of free elections.” – Dick Gregory

Over the course of his life, Dick Gregory has been known as a writer, comedian, pitchman and social activist.

He was born on Oct. 12, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri to a single mother. They were so poor that sometimes he didn’t have clothes and would go outside to play wearing one of his mother’s dresses. When neighborhood kids teased him, he deflected their comments with humor, learning at a young age that speaking up made a difference and that jokes could be serious. But, he didn’t just crack jokes; as a high school student, Gregory led protests against segregated schools.

After high school, he won a track scholarship to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he completed two years of school before being drafted into the military in 1954. He later returned to college, only to drop out again, disillusioned by the university’s focus on his athletic ability. The university “didn’t want me to study; they wanted me to run,” he said.[i]

Dick-Gregory-Write-in-Dick-Gregory-President-for-peace-in-68-campaign-button-300x294, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents

While serving in the Army, Gregory cultivated his early talent for comedy. After leaving college for the second time, he moved to Chicago and got involved in the comedy scene there. By the early 1960s, he was appearing in important Chicago clubs. Unlike most Black comedians of the time, race was a major part of his act.[ii] One routine led to his big break:

“Last time I was down South, I walked into this restaurant, and this white waitress came up to me and said, ‘We don’t serve colored people here.’

“I said, ‘That’s all right, I don’t eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken.’

“About then these three cousins come in, you know the ones I mean, Ku, Klux and Klan, and they say ‘Boy, we’re giving you fair warning.

“Anything you do to that chicken, we’re going to do to you.’ So I put down my knife and fork, and I picked up that chicken and I kissed it.”[iii]

Dick-Gregory-If-you-dont-program-your-mind-...-meme, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents Dick-Gregory-They-fear-those-with-knowledge-and-control-those-without-it-meme-294x300, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents Gregory became well-known and financially successful as he addressed social issues in his comedy routines. In the 1960s, he began to spend less time on comedy and more on civil rights activism, including marches with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.[iv]

In a 2010 interview with Ebony magazine, he explained his shift from entertainment to activism: “Even as a young boy, I wanted to do something important, but there was no particular thing that inspired me. It was a person. That person was Medgar Evers …

“After he received word that I had gone to a few SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) rallies, he called me and said, ‘Dick Gregory. I need you to come to Jackson and march with me.’ … The nightclubs, the money, the jokes all came secondary after that. I am still more inclined to go and march for a young man wrongfully killed in Harlem than do a gig at a university. Once the movement is in you, it’s there. It never leaves.”[v]

Dick-Gregory-This-isnt-a-revolution-of-black-against-white-...-meme-286x300, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents

Dick-Gregory-...-doing-things-for-other-people-meme-268x300, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents To challenge established power structures, he ran against long-time Mayor Richard J. Daley in Chicago’s 1966 mayoral election. Two years later, he received 1.5 million votes as the Peace and Freedom Party’s write-in candidate in the presidential election, campaigning on a platform for civil rights, peace in Vietnam, and racial and social justice.

Though he never won an election, his candidacies called attention to the failings of the current electoral systems and gained attention for the New Left and Black Power movements. In the 1970s, Gregory became a vegetarian because of his commitment to non-violence. He studied nutrition and became an advocate for healthy eating and lifestyles.

Dick Gregory is the author of 13 books. He and his wife raised 10 children and have 12 grandchildren. In his lifetime, he has gone on over 150 hunger strikes to protest injustices including war, hostage situations and the death penalty. He has worked tirelessly for decades and he continue[d] to write, perform and protest. Critics often label Gregory a conspiracy theorist. In a 2011 interview, he claimed that title as “a badge of honor.”

Dick-Gregory-young-...-forcing-people-to-take-their-way-of-governance-at-the-barrel-of-a-gun-...-meme-300x196, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents

Dick-Gregory-...-This-country-aint-never-been-no-good-meme-288x300, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents While promoting his 2001 memoir, he commented on the extraordinary achievements of the American Civil Rights Movement: “In the history of this planet, there has been no one to make the progress that African-Americans have made in a 30-year period, in spite of Black folks and white folks lying to one another, not being fair, not being honest.”

Even though the U.S. has a history of extreme hate and violence, he emphasizes that the people who have had the courage to fight racism have seen results.

Gregory believes that people do the right thing when they discover each other´s shared humanity. In the scenario below he imagines two groups of people who would typically hate each other helping each other through a crisis:

Dick-Gregory-...-white-racist-mentality-...-meme-300x223, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents

Dick-Gregory-White-isnt-a-color-its-an-attitude-...-meme-300x229, Dick Gregory, Culture Currents “In some kind of way, racism is so fragile. Racism is a punk. For instance, you and I driving down the highway. You have your grandchild; I have mine. The cars steer and turn over. Three Black militants talking ‘Cracker this’ and `Cracker that’ and three Ku Klux Klans come over, and both … groups is lifting that car up. And I do not see your Klan sheet, nor do you hear the word ‘Cracker.’ That’s how fragile [racism can be].”

By emphasizing our shared humanity – which can often be found in humor – Gregory believe[d] that we can continue to overcome years of racism and injustice.

Rachel Mack writes for www.americanswhotellthetruth.org. This story first appeared on Popular Resistance.

[i] Moses, Sheila. “Dick Gregory.” Ebony 65.6 (2010):54-55.

[ii] Lutz, Phillip. “A Bit Slower, but Still Throwing Lethal Punch Lines.” New York Times [New York, N.Y] 21 Feb 2010.

[iii] Dubner, Stephen. “Dick Gregory and the Old Reverse Incentive Trick.” Aug. 3, 2011.

[iv]Dick Gregory Global Watch.”

[v]Callus on My Soul: A Memoir” Booknotes. March 4, 2001.

https://youtu.be/p3jtu5Hgamc