Dick Gregory, pioneering US comedian and activist, dies aged 84
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Dick Gregory, the black comedian who broke down racial barriers in the 1960s and used humour to spread messages of social justice, has died. He was 84.
Gregory’s son, Christian, said his father died late on Saturday in Washington, DC after being hospitalised for about a week. He had suffered a severe bacterial infection.
The family posted a message on his Twitter account ssying it was with “enormous sadness” that they confirmed the death of their father, “a comedic legend”.
Gregory was one of the first black comedians to find mainstream success with white audiences in the early 1960s. He rose from an impoverished childhood in St. Louis to become a celebrated satirist who deftly commented upon racial divisions at the dawn of the civil rights movement.
It is with enormous sadness that the Gregory family confirms that their father, comedic legend https://t.co/UL9ATwwBxv
— Dick Gregory (@IAmDickGregory) August 20, 2017
“Where else in the world but America,” he joked, “could I have lived in the worst neighborhoods, attended the worst schools, rode in the back of the bus, and get paid $5,000 a week just for talking about it?”
Gregory’s sharp commentary soon led him into civil rights activism, where his ability to woo audiences through humor helped bring national attention to fledgling efforts at integration and social equality for blacks.
The Rev Al Sharpton said on Twitter that he had known Gregory since he was 16 and mourned “a true, committed, and consistent freedom fighter”.
....I've known Dick Gregory since I was 16 years old. A true, committed, and consistent freedom fighter. May he Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/4OelJucrbF
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) August 20, 2017
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