Dick Gregory (1932–2017,) fully Richard Claxton Gregory, was an African-American comedian, civil rights activist, and spokesperson for health issues.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Gregory attended Southern Illinois University on an athletic scholarship in 1951 but left in 1953 to join the U.S. Army, where he hosted and performed comedy routines in military shows.
Gregory became nationally recognized in the 1960s for his sharp racial commentary and direct advocacy of equality. He gave a comedic voice to the mounting Civil Rights Movement by addressing his assertive satire to white audiences. He joined the 1963 March on Washington and the integration protests in the Deep South.
Gregory was also outspoken about other political issues, including the Vietnam War, police brutality, drug abuse, capital punishment, sexism, and animal rights. He regularly used hunger strikes as a device of his activism. In the 1980s, he established a “Bahamian Diet” nutritional product business targeting the unhealthy diets of black Americans.
Gregory wrote many books, including An Autobiography (1964,) No More Lies: The Myth and the Reality of American History (1971,) and Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies (2017.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Dick Gregory
Riches do not delight us so much with their possession, as torment us with their loss.
—Dick Gregory
Topics: Wealth, Riches
One of things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.
—Dick Gregory
Topics: Helpfulness, Happiness, Goodwill, Mentoring, Kindness
Nature is not affected by finance. If someone offered you ten thousand dollars to let them touch your eyeball without blinking, you would never collect the money. At the very last moment, Nature would force you to blink your eye. Nature will protect her own.
—Dick Gregory
Topics: Money
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