BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Tribute to Dick Gregory

DARE TO BE FREE

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In the face of controversy – threats – physical punishment – and even death, the ancestors of African Americans did not deter nor detour from daring to be free. The African Americans of today are the recipients of a glorious legacy left by brave African American heroes who dared to be free, the likes of Fredrick Douglas; W.E.B. DuBois; Booker T. Washington; Malcolm X; Martin Luther King, Jr.; and countless others. In each era of African American history, the torch of freedom was passed down and handed to various individuals who, in the face of extreme adversity, bravely dared to be free. In the twentieth century, this torch was handled by many individuals.

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Richard Claxton Gregory, later known as Dick Gregory, grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, as a welfare case and reared by his mother in a single-parent environment. He was a hustler who earned money by shining shoes, selling newspapers, picking up trash, and running errands. Everyone in the neighborhood thought he was a good, well-mannered kid; and by grinning all the time, he appeared to be a happy little boy. Whenever he was paid for his services, he would run off and buy himself junk-food and a pocketful of candy. No one ever followed him – so no one ever realized those treats were his dinners. He was born on Columbus Day, 1932, and as a child, he never envisioned that he would one day play such a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement. A front-line participant in the battle for civil rights was never even a thought to be considered. However, he bravely picked up the "torch" handed to him by former freedom fighters and entered this "relay race for freedom – a race not won by the swiftest but by those who endure." He never realized that he would be required to continue to carry this freedom torch into the twenty-first century… but he dared to be free.

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Dick Gregory’s father, Big Pres, was a wife beater, womanizer, and gambler. He left the family when Dick was a young child and Dick would be forever scarred by the absence of his father. Even though Big Pres deserted Dick’s mother and her children, causing them untold suffering, Dick still loved him and yearned for that fatherly bonding. Dick knew his father was a lonely and frustrated man. In Dick’s first autobiography entitled Nigger, Dick gave this explanation for his father’s frustration, “…A man who destroys his own home shall inherit the wind.” Dick never realized that his father’s absence would be an important factor in his development as freedom fighter.

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After his father’s abandonment, Dick grew closer to his mother – not as baby would for nurturing – but as an inspirational confidant. What his mother lacked in material wealth, was substituted with an abundance of love toward God and mankind; moralistic wisdom; and an understanding of human nature. Dick made daily withdrawals from this abstract deposit of riches – and with his quick wit – developed a keen sense of mental reasoning and emotional stability before reaching physical puberty. Dick’s mother was preparing her son for a world full of truth and deception – and preparing him to dare to be free.

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Dick was labeled a trouble-maker in elementary school and often had to sit in the back of the room at a seat with a chalk circle drawn around it – the idiot’s seat. In that same autobiography, Dick claims, “I never learned hate at home, or shame. I had to go school for that.” Dick was ashamed of being poor and hated the system that publicized it. Dick would often tearfully shout that he was “not poor, just broke.” Because of his publicized economic plight and the noticeable absence of his father, Dick was constantly teased and tormented by other kids. Dick would also constantly speak up for those kids who were smaller, weaker, or just less fortunate than he. Dick got into several fights and lost many battles to kids twice his size, but those conflicts only prepared him for the tasks to come. Finally, he learned to fight back with jokes rather than his fists. Dick Gregory was learning to dare to be free.

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Somehow, Dick managed to enter high school and then college, where he became a record-breaking track star. Being a superstar had its perks and Dick finally had the three “P’s” – power, prestige, and privilege… but more important, Dick had achieved national recognition. In Dick’s mind, everyone knew who he was. While Dick was explaining to his mother as to why he put his body through such rigorous pain during training, he was quoted in his book, Up From Nigger, as saying, “You don’t understand Momma. I’m putting the Gregory name on the map.” Dick’s mother replied, “Honey, I put you in the world, and the world was made before maps.” Right then and there Dick began to cease thinking of just his individual gains and success. He began to ponder on the bigger picture – the collective, unified success of African Americans. Dick was daring to be free.

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When the opportunity to work in the entertainment field availed itself, Dick eagerly accepted the challenge and began stand-up routines in various nightclubs throughout the country. After a long struggle to gain public acceptance and recognition, Dick finally got his break. In December 1961, he appeared at the famed Playboy Club in Chicago, Illinois. Dick later made appearances on the Jack Paar Show and other national reviews – and became known as one of the nation’s top comedians. In daring to be free, Dick Gregory heavily influenced many other Black entertainers and paved the way for comedians such as Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, and most importantly – Richard Pryor.

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Dick was at the pinnacle of his career. Now Dick’s name was truly on the map, but his mother’s philosophical words echoed through his mind. Dick’s mother’s idealistic and realistic awareness of life, liberty, and the pursuit happiness reverberated through every fiber of his being. No longer could he be content with his recently acquired success. Prominent African Americans were organizing and preparing strategies for the upcoming battle for civil rights. Dick was daring to be free and had to be a part of this battle.

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Recruited by the late Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dick was handed the torch and entered the race for freedom. While he adopted a stance of non-violence and paid strict adherence to that policy, Dick was, never-the-less, active on all fronts – sit-ins, public demonstrations, and marches. He publicly and privately confronted law enforcement officials and was arrested on numerous occasions. On any and every opportunity that occurred, Dick never failed to address issues of social injustice – he always dared to be free.

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Dick fought for equality in both the North and the South. He quickly became a civil rights leader and peace activist who was known throughout the world. Dick fasted for human rights both here and abroad – solemnly claiming, “…there can be no civil rights without human rights.” Dick’s strong sense of social justice crossed racial, cultural, and geographical boundaries. Using his quick wit, satire, and the power of truth-in-words, Dick cut his opponents with razor-sharp slashes – forcing them to see the folly of their ways.

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Dick used his celebrity status to draw national and world attention to such issues as segregation, voting rights, discrimination, and disfranchisement. He was a close friend of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali; and a confidant of John and Robert Kennedy. Because he dared to be free, Dick was politically engaged to a degree no comedian – white or African American – had ever been before.

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During the 1960s, Dick spent less and less time performing and entertaining. The volatile social climate of this era coupled with Dick’s relentless commitment to the struggle for civil and human rights, impelled Dick to spend more and more of his time on social issues. Dick initiated and participated in demonstration marches, sit-ins, and parades to support a wide range of causes; including opposition to the Vietnam War, world hunger, and drug abuse. Daring to be free, Dick Gregory fasted in protest more than sixty times. Dick even went to Iran, where he fasted and prayed in an effort to urge Ayatollah Khomeini to release the American Embassy hostages. Throughout the world, wherever there was social injustice, Dick Gregory went daring to be free.

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Demonstrating his commitment to confronting the entrenched political powers, Dick entered the Chicago Mayoral race in 1966. He ran for President of the United States as a write-in candidate in 1968. Dick has always been an advocate of education and still honors many speaking engagements at various universities throughout the nation.

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In 1990, Dick was arrested in Washington, D.C. during a protest at the CIA Headquarters. In an effort to fight crime in St. Louis neighborhoods, Dick initiated a program in 1992 called the “Campaign for Human Dignity.” Dick has starred in one movie and made appearances in several others. He also wrote eleven books and recorded several albums. In 2005, after President George W. Bush’s “State of the Union Address,” Dick gave African Americans their own “State of the Union Address.” The 3-CD recording of this enlightening and inspiring speech can be purchased for a nominal fee through the internet at www.dickgregory.com.

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At age seventy-two, Dick is still active. However, age is catching up with him, yet Dick still continues daring to be free. Somehow, Dick Gregory, the elderly spokesman for African Americans, is still “…fighting the good fight, [while aiming to] finish his course, [while] keeping the faith” (II Timothy 4:7). Dick Gregory still continues to DARE TO BE FREE!!!

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: African Americans Emerging into the Twenty-First Century

DARE TO BE FREE

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August 28, 1963, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., voiced his dream – a dream that echoed around the world. His eloquent words of hope for a brighter future in an almost perfect utopia burned its message in the hearts of all Americans, stirred up our emotions, and vibrated the walls of our souls. Whites and Blacks alike were affected by this dream that “…one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’…” No one familiar with the insufferable conditions of the not-so-distant past can doubt that African Americans are much better off today than they were twenty to thirty years ago; however, the improvement was gradual and uneven – and now some elements may even have deteriorated. The dream remains more a goal than a reality.

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Entering the twenty-first century, African Americans were still battling the tragic but enduring effects of pervasive racism and degrading slavery. Racism, with its corrosive and bitter social perversions, remained alive as a malignant cancer, sometimes disguised as benevolence. Having passed the apex of its global dominance, European colonialism left behind an aftermath of seriously distorted values, self-alienation, cultural debasement, and confused identity.

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Although slavery in the United States officially ended in the late nineteenth century, it has a lingering impact on the descendants of its victims. Many African Americans, never being personally afflicted with the robes of slavery, still suffer from aborted initiative, ruptured lineage (both literal and figurative), generalized cultural bastardization, and destroyed self-image.

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African Americans today desperately need to regain control over the presentation, discussion, and interpretation of their own experiences, cultural imperatives, and their lives. There is clearly a series of problems that must be addressed and surmounted if African Americans are to recover the sense of positive identity necessary for their psychological wholeness – and for genuine, cogent, and authentic cultural expression.

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By having their individual identities stolen, African Americans also face a waning of identity as a distinct community and the resulting loss of a clear appreciation for African American common interests. Even though the majority of African Americans do live – and have always lived – in communities that are overwhelmingly populated by African Americans, they too often and too completely confuse African American interests with the surrounding Eurocentric cultural. As an assimilated cultural, we often imitate and emulate European cultural; and neglect our own. We admire their heroes and undermine our own. Phillis Wheatley’s testament “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” says it best, “…[African Americans] sometimes see themselves through the eyes of others, even though that view is contradicted by their own objective condition.”

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Today, many African Americans have no higher ambition than the acquisition of luxury goods as individual markers of prestige and privilege. Many African Americans have prized individual success over collective advancement and thereby underdeveloped our communities. Many African Americans also undermine – perhaps even destroy – the development of our youth by their failure to foster coherent social values that reward those who direct energy toward collective growth.

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In this era of internationalism, African Americans are still prone to cling to national, (and even more so, local neighborhood identities), without fully grasping the need to adopt a larger, global identity derived not just from common historical and cultural roots but also from similar economic and political yokes. African Americans must learn to see themselves as an aggregate of vital communities with particular national experiences subsumed within a unified global African population.

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It is extremely important that African Americans remember that all people have lineages that give them a sense of place, a mark in geography, and a body of shared experiences over a specific time period. African American heritage is a complex set of factors that include African cultural. From this fact comes an inner need to know, acknowledge, and extend both their direct and symbolic legacies. The features of African American culture are self-validating, requiring no external sanctions or acceptance. Bill Russell, the former great basketball star, stated in his book, Go Up For Glory, that on his first trip to Africa he was “…confronted with deep emotional feelings of returning to a homeland.” When asked why he was there, he answered without even thinking, “I came here because I believe that somewhere in Africa is my ancestral home. I came here because I am drawn here, like any man, drawn to seek the land of my ancestors.” After being misquoted by the white American press as to why he went to Africa, he clarified his position by stating, “…I understand that the [American] Irish are proud of Ireland, the [American] Italians are proud of Italy, the [American] Jews are proud of Israel. Just like them, I am proud of my ancestral home – West Africa.” Therefore, culture is the African Americans’ most essential source of identity. It is their garment against the wind, the core testament of their own humanity.

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One of the consequences of slavery was the loss of a sense of ownership on one’s own self. The question of manhood – a frequent theme in African American literature and history – is profoundly related to this issue. It often gives vocal and visual evidence of itself through assertive and sometimes violent reactions to oppressive confrontations, belittling encounters, and humiliating situations. Accepting the existential challenge of being – of owning one’s own self, empowers African American men and women to refuse to cower in the face of indifference, threats, and assaults. It encourages them to dare to be free – dare to use their own talents to interpret their own experiences from their own perspectives.

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In the face of controversy – threats – physical punishment – and even death, the ancestors of African Americans did not deter nor detour from daring to be free. The African Americans of today are the recipients of a glorious legacy left by brave African American heroes who dared to be free, the likes of Fredrick Douglas; W.E.B. DuBois; Booker T. Washington; Malcolm X; Martin Luther King, Jr.; and countless others. In each era of African American history, the torch of freedom was passed down and handed to various individuals who, in the face of extreme adversity, bravely dared to be free. In the twentieth century, this torch was handled by many individuals.

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The dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. is still a dream and not a reality for millions of African Americans. There are individuals, organizations, and institutions determined to kill his dream and destroy the hope of African Americans: that freedom’s bell will ring in the hearts and minds of all Americans; and that equality will be the American lifestyle.

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As we approach the first decade in the twenty-first this freedom torch must be passed on to our African American youth. The time for preparations is now. As long as prejudice and racism exist, this race for freedom and equality is not over. Who will be our new leaders? Who will bravely pick up the torch passed down by former freedom fighters and entered this relay race for freedom and equality – a race not won by the swiftest but by those who endure? Who will take the torch? Will you dare to be free?

MUSIC: What Happened to Good Music?

THE DECLINE OF MEANINGFUL MUSIC

(From an African American Perspective)

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(The Temptations – 1969)

Music - rhythm that soothes the savage beast, brings strong men to their knees, and causes females to faint in romantic bliss. Where did it go? What happened to my music? Yes, I am "old-school" - with old-fashioned ideas. I am sixty-four years old and I have lived through six decades of music. I have enjoyed the "Big Band and Swing" era; the "Be-Bop" era; the "Rock and Roll" era - up to and including the "British Explosion" era; the never-ending era of "Gospel," "Blues," and "Jazz"; the early gyrating "Soul" era; the "Rhytm and Blues (R & B)" era with its smooth, soft ballads and the emergence of "Motown" recording studio; and many other new artists.. I've even enjoyed the early stages of "Rap" music - when "Rap" offered hope. All these different forms of music had one thing in common... they made us realize that life is worth living.

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Now, the American youth, through their "Rap" and "Gansta Rap" music, have almost destroyed this medium. Their musical vocal expression of the unjust and violent society in which we live is of vital interest, but the explicit language used to relay their messages demeans, demoralizes, and alienates the morally conscious listener. Is "Rap" music a trend that has never been witnessed in America before? No, "Rap" music ia a continuing line of African American expressions including: "Spirituals," "Blues,"and "Soul," all of which were inspired during trying times in our society. However, because of "Rap" music's much more violent and explicit content, it cannot be viewed in the same sense of its predecessors nor can it be taken in the same serious manner.

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There are a number of "Rap" styles. "Lite-Action Rap" is entertaining and not burdened with a deep or heavy message ( Fresh Prince). "Hardcore Rap" has a macho, aggressive tone; its lyrics are usually obscene, profane, sexually explicit, and violent. "Gansta Rap" is the most extreme. It promotes and glorifies violence, illicit sex, drugs, and felonious criminal activity. All are part of the new "Hip-Hop" regime.

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The nation is divided over "Rap" music and its influence on our youth. Some feel it is just a form of expression, while others feel that it leads to increased deviant juvenile behavior and therefore should be banned. Many debates, Congressional and others, have ensued over this vital controversy. Many editorials have been written on this subject.

Jamilah Evelyn, the author of the article, "To the Academy with Love, from a Hip-Hop Fan" published in the December 7th, 2001 issue of the magazine Black Issues in Higher Education, had an idiotic and asinine idea. Her main objective was to influence university educators to develop an "empathetic rapport" with their students by requiring revered professors to listen to the shameful, disgusting, and demoralizing lyrics of hatemongers, women debasers, violent-crime advocators, and drug worshipers.

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In that article, Ms. Evelyn had the audacity to say, "Who else, besides a professor conscious of the thoughtful and intellectual side of kids otherwise cast as degenerates, should we expect to give a ringing endorsement of 'Hip-hops' prolific proteges." Is she really expecting these highly honored, respected, and educated teachers to actually approve of this music and have the college institutions they represent add it in their course curriculum? In one breath she readily admits that by celebrating these degenerates, we demoralize our youth, and in the next breath she promotes the same degenerating, violent lyrics by claiming the reason it sells "...is indicative more of American pop culture in general than of this one particular facet." She wants her readers to believe that our culture is responsible for the acceptance of this degrading music, but, in fact, it is the music which is generating the negative behavior in our culture. In her opinion, failure to adopt her philosophy would lead to the educational deterioration of future African-American minds and the extinction of potential African-American professionals. Her radical ideas and assumptions are as ridiculious as those idiots in California who want to add "Ebonics" as another language for African American students.

The article, "Rock of Ages," written by Richard Layaco and published February 26, 2001, in Time magazine, advises parents to listen to this music with their children and hold discussion groups. He advises parents to schedule trips with their kids to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington. He further claims the Experience Music Project, “…aims to be a place where parents can explain to their kids that James Brown is the old guy who sounds like Mystical, and kids can tell their parents that Mystical is the young guy who sounds like James Brown.” What a croak! Mystical sounds more like a perverted version of James Brown.

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Romantic musical artists have been replaced by sexual deviates. While admitting this music is connected with promiscuous sex and drugs, Mr. Layaco states, “…it’s a supremely subtle parent who can share all kinds of music with their kids without seeming to endorse the troubling stuff.” Now doesn’t that sound crazy? They are subtle parents – just parents who abstain from their parental responsibilities and delegate their authority to their children. It’s like giving your thirteen-year-old daughter birth control pills or condoms while telling her not to have sexual intercourse.

Lorraine Ali, another female author, dismisses the destructible nature of this music by describing it as a passing fad. In her article, “The Same Old Song,” published in the October 29, 2000, issue of Newsweek, she claims the music is just the kids’ way of rebelling as kids do in each generation. While conceding that this generation has taken their music to a new extreme, she claims, "[that it] …will pass away, either because it collapses under the weight of its own decadence… or because it withers from sheer neglect.” She asks her readers to wait for this music to fade out of existence. She fails to mention the irreparable damage manifested upon our youth while we wait.

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What proponents of the music fail to realize is this sick music’s enormous following and its long-term negative, hypnotic effect. Our inner-city children are reacting to the subliminal messages transmitted through this music by these so-called “Rap” artists. They closely follow the antics of these anti-role models, dressing like them, emulating them, and proudly displaying their obscene lyrical banners as if they were American flags. These lyrics are held in high esteem among our youth and are recited like the Pledge of Allegiance. “Rap” verses are memorized and held in reverent awe like passages of the Holy Bible. Captivated in the music’s hypnotic trance, they revel in their deviant behavior and perform atrocities that were once only attributed to adults with mental problems.

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Mass commercialization of this music, coupled with easy access through the internet, has permitted the demoralization of our youth to rapidly increase. Its contagious, poisonous venom has spread to epidemic proportions. Picture your thirteen-year-old daughter, listening to some adult pervert glorifying oral and anal sex. Your teenage son is learning firsthand on how to become a hardcore felon with murder, rape, and armed robbery as glorious trophies to be collected and treasured. Advocating the use of illegal drugs, promiscuous sex, and felonious criminal activity are standard themes in most “Rap” music. Increases in the number of high school drop-outs, teen pregnancies, adolescent drug use, and juvenile crimes can all be attributed to the infectious influence of this music. The increase in gang and drug-related deaths among our youth are proof of its deadly communicable effect.

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Admittedly, censorship is not the answer. However, some controls must be initiated to minimize the lasting effect this music has upon our youth. Somehow, as caring adults, we must find a cure for this cancer-like disease. Hopelessness, despair, and inevitable destruction will be our fate if we allow this parasite to continue eating at the moral fabric of our youth.

As Leonard Pitts stated in his article, "Value of Life Lost in Gansta Rap's Refrain," that appeared in the November 19, 1999, issue of the Miami Herald, “…rap is largely music of thug values, celebrating that which deserves no celebration.” He continues, “… [why do we] romanticize death [and] reward it with that badge of awful honor… we already know that young Black men are not afraid to die. We must challenge them to prove a more difficult thing: that they are not afraid to live.” We must begin singing a new song with old lyrics and give our youth a sense of hope instead of the hopelessness that is reverberated through “Rap” music.

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The task ahead will not be an easy one. Most habits die hard and old ones seem immortal, but everything must change or be rearranged. Somehow, we must convince our youth that this music of darkness and despair, which is rapidly causing their senseless deaths and the death of our society, must give way to the light of a new beat for an old song, with lyrics that breathe life into our society.

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There is definitely a link between music and memory. Life is full of things loved, lost, found, hoped for, and, of course, there is misery and despair. But in moments of loneliness or solemness of thought, recollection of life’s memories creates a quiet stillness in us – a death-like silence. Music can block out that silence. So, bring back my music and let me live again.

MASS COMMUNNICATIONS: Attention Classmates

To All My Mass

Communications Classmates

at WOSC

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Please be advise that my blog site for comments to class discussion questions should be done on my blog site: http://www.ytownherbrd.blogspot.com/ This is to insure that our instructor gives us proper credit.

Thank You!!!