Hundreds of people gathered at the Kennedy Center Tuesday night to celebrate the life and history of civil rights activist Dick Gregory, just a few days before his October 12 birthday. In an event emceed by his friend, Bill Cosby, nearly a dozen luminaries, including Sinbad, Dorothy Height, Coretta Scott King, Marion Barry, paid tribute to Dick in song, comedy, and accolates. The evening included a rare public appearance by Lillian Gregory, Dick’s wife of more than 30 years. Several of his siblings and children were also present, and Ayanna Gregory, his very talented daughter, offered her father a song she composed, "Phoenix". The evening culminated with a performance by Stevie Wonder, who ended his performance by playing his celebrated "Happy Birthday".

The organizers of the tribute included Dorothy Height and Sheila Moses, the co-author of Gregory’s most recent biography. They may have been motivated by news that Gregory had been diagnosed with cancer, but Gregory has declared victory in his war on cancer, using the same nutritional weapons to fight his cancer as he has urged us all to use to improve our health. And, Gregory is still faithfully walking or running each day, spending his mornings in DC’s Rock Creek Park when he is in town.

Dick Gregory’s activism has been of such long standing and so exceptional, that we frequently forget that he was a heavy-set, hard-drinking, spit-talking comedian when he got involved in the civil rights movement. He began to turn down $5000 a week gigs at the Playboy Club and other venues so that he could go to Mississippi to raise money and consciousness, to help register voters, and to help raise money. He and Harry Belafonte were among those who Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would pick up the telephone and call whenever he needed them. Both were known for coming whenever King called.

This part of Gregory’s activism is important to recognize, especially now. Too many of us have taken the right to vote for granted, forgetting the tremendous struggle that so many people engaged in to secure the right to vote for us. It is wonderful that young people didn’t have to engage in that particular struggle, but it is painful for many to find so many young people simply forgetting how important the struggle is.

Gregory’s sacrifice also makes me wonder who, today, is willing or able to offer the same kind of sacrifice. How many people simply respond to the cry for help without trying to figure out what is in it for them? How many would give up money or time for the movement. I can already hear someone asking, "movement for what", and that, too, is part of the problem We live in a rather dispassionate era, where people don’t get but so excited about anything except their own aggrandizement. We don’t get passionate about elections (though having better candidates would help); we don’t get passionate about social change. Perhaps we get passionate about racial profiling, when we hear about it. But let’s be honest. How many of us, really, have been victims of racial profiling? Is our pseudo-passion for racial profiling a proxy for something else?

Dr Martin Luther King once said, and I paraphrase, if there is nothing you would die for, then why are you living. Dick Gregory had something he would die for. Even though he had 10 children and a wife to support, he was willing to shrug them off when he followed the clarion call of the movement. To be sure, he had taken precautions. But every time he stepped his foot into Mississippi, he knew he could be killed, and he went anyway. He went back after Medgar Evers was killed, after there was evidence of just how evil civil rights obstructionists were. He went back because of his passion for justice, a passion he turned into action.

Even after Dr. King’s death, Dick Gregory has remained an activist and agitator. At 68, his passion burns bright. Although some of his conspiracy theories bring chuckles and heads shaken in disbelief, he remains both a powerful spokesperson for justice, and someone who effectively combines humor with a social message to help us both laugh and learn.

As I sat through Gregory’s tribute, I was gladdened by the fact that Dick Gregory got a tribute while he was living. Too often, the sentiments expressed at this tribute are first expressed at a funeral, when it is too late. But I also thought that there was much inspiration and history that we all can take from the life of Dick Gregory. He was so passionately committed to social change that he was willing to die for the civil rights struggle. What are we passionately committed to? What are we willing to die for?

JULIANNE MALVEAUX'S SUN REPORTER OCTOBER 12, 2000

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