By Clyde Haberman
Dick
Gregory, the pioneering black satirist who transformed cool humor into a
barbed force for civil rights in the 1960s, then veered from his craft
for a life devoted to protest and fasting in the name of assorted social
causes, health regimens and conspiracy theories, died Saturday in
Washington. He was 84.
Mr. Gregory’s son, Christian Gregory, who announced his death on social media,
said more details would be released in the coming days. Mr. Gregory had
been admitted to a hospital on Aug. 12, his son said in an earlier
Facebook post.
Early
in his career Mr. Gregory insisted in interviews that his first order
of business onstage was to get laughs, not to change how white America
treated Negroes (the accepted word for African-Americans at the time).
“Humor can no more find the solution to race problems than it can cure
cancer,” he said. Nonetheless, as the civil rights movement was kicking
into high gear, whites who caught his club act or listened to his
routines on records came away with a deeper feel for the nation’s
shameful racial history.
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Source: The New York Times
From The G-Man salutes the activism and accomplishments of Dick Gregory with the following video. May he forever rest in peace.
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