Dick Gregory
(Wikipedia)
NAACP
August 19, 2017
Baltimore—The
NAACP mourns the death of comedic legend and civil rights icon Dick
Gregory, who passed away today at age 84. Gregory broke down
the barriers of segregation in American comedy and entertainment, and
consistently lent his celebrity status to the ongoing fight for civil
rights.
The
author of numerous books, comedy and spoken word albums, Gregory
recently released a new book, “Defining Moments in Black History:
Reading Between the Lies.” Noted as an independent researcher and
scholar of a variety of unorthodox knowledge, he segued from his
position as one of the nation’s leading comics, to a civil rights
activist after friend and former NAACP Mississippi state field secretary
Medgar Evers was assassinated in 1963 by a white supremacist.
“Dick
Gregory was an activist and creative genius who knew the struggle for
liberation could only take flight if prominent individuals like himself
leveraged their considerable influence, and joined the masses on the
front lines of the dismantling of Jim Crow,” said NAACP Board Chairman
Leon W. Russell. “We have lost one of the most important voices of
social justice vigilance in the last fifty years. His intellectual style
of humor defied racist stereotypes, eschewed buffoonery and provided
white America rare insight into the unquestionable humanity of Black
people,” added Russell.
Gregory would
frequently march along side the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and
considered late Muslim leader Malcolm X a friend. Later in his career,
he would spend time on Radio One’s WOL-AM in Washington, DC with media
magnate and good friend Cathy Hughes, providing analysis of the Black
struggle, and advocating African American economic self-help, health and
nutrition.
“Our
brother in the struggle, Dick Gregory will be sorely missed,” said
NAACP interim President Derrick Johnson. “He, along with people
like Harry Belafonte and Paul Robeson pioneered the use of celebrity as
tool to push for social justice. Our community and nation owes a great
debt to him for his decades of work to eradicate racism.”
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