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Volume 56 - Issue 11
Dick Gregory reflects on civil rights and social change
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Photo by Josh Grubb
As part of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Distinguished Lecture
Series, Nationally famed comedian, author, and civil rights activist Dick
Gregory spoke to a crowded gym in the Campus Center last Thursday.
Big Night
set for
April sth
UVVG Press Release
The University of
West Georgia will host
its Centennial Big Night
2007 on Thursday, April 5,
at 7 p.m. in the Townsend
Center for the Performing
Arts. A reception and
exhibit will follow the
event in the atrium of the
Technology-enhanced
Learning Center (TLC).
Big Night 2007 is
celebrating its ninth
year highlighting UWG
undergraduate research
in the field of fine arts,
business, education,
humanities, the sciences
and social sciences.
Students work with
faculty advisors on
research projects for
several months or longer
and are chosen by an
interdisciplinary panel of
judges. A cash prize of
$250 is awarded to each
student presenting at Big
Night.
The Association of
Research and Creative
Humanities, a UWG
interdisciplinary student
organization, will sponsor
the reception and exhibits
in the TLC following
the presentations at the
Townsend Center.
Dr. Andrew Leavitt,
associate vice president
for Development and
Alumni
Relations and professor
See Big page 7
t„,West Georgian
Gregory's lecture inspirational
By Melinda Bellemare
Staff Writer
Mbellem I @ my.westga .edit
The crowd was anxious
with excitement as they awaited
the beginning of the lecture on
Wednesday night. It’s not often
West Georgia has the privilege
of hosting such a distinguished
guest as Mr. Richard Gregory.
Gregory, a civil rights
activist, known for working
closely with Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., delivered a message of
urgency and inspiration.
“What a messy life we left you
young folks,” he said. “Think
how easy it is? Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. had never done nothin’ in
his life and in 1956 they brought
him into the movement. He was
assassinated in 1968. He did
all that in 12 years,” Gregory
explained. “I was right there
with him and sometimes I don't
believe it.”
Although his speech was
humorous it had serious overtones
and left a powerful impression on
the students and community.
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Photo by Josh Grubb
After the lecture, Mr. Dick Gregory was presented with a portrait by the group Black Men With Initiative (BMWI).
In News
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Goo Goo Dolls warm-up
act announced.
WWW. I HEWESTGEORGIAN.C OM
By IVacy Ammons
Staff Writer
tammonsl@my.westgai’du
“What a messy job we
left for you young folks,”
Mr. Dick Gregory said to
a crowded gymnasium.
“Some of you will rise to
the occasion; the rest of
you will live a horrible,
insane life. Some of
your minds have been so
messed up—black and
white—that you'll never
be able to change it.”
The lecture hx>k
place in the Campus
Center Gym, Thursday
night, March 26, as part of
the Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King Distinguished
Lecture Series, presented
by the UWG Center for
African-American Male
Research, Success and
Leadership.
Gregory is the
author of 15 fxxiks,
his most popular being
his biography entitled
“Nigger", which has sold
over seven million copies.
"1 feel it was very
enlightening," freshman student
Asia Andrews remarked, “He
opened my eyes to a lot of things
1 didn’t see, I didn't notice.”
It has only been 45 years since
segregation in the United States
and Gregory urges the youth of
today to finish the fight that his
generation began.
He joked about everything
from Viagra, to Osama Bin
Laden. Gregory was contacted
to get comments about 9/11 and
his thoughts about the U.S. still
looking for Bin Laden. “They
said: “Mr. Gregory how do you
feel about us still looking for Bin
Laden?” “We? I’m not lookin'
for him. I’m still tryin’ to find
my daddy!” he said. The crowd
cheered with laughter; Gregory
spoke candidly about rape,
violence, capital punishment,
child abuse, liver disease —the
list goes on.
Along with his career as a
writer, activist, and comedian,
many are surprised to find that
Gregory is also an accomplished
recording artist with 7 albums
In Entertainment
;ffl Hff s’f
Black Christmas DVD
reviewed.
He worked with Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. in the fight
for civil rights, and was a
popular comedian during
the sixties with his clever
use of racial satire. In
1968 he ran as a write-in
presidential candidate for
the Freedom and Peace
party. He is also a recording
artist, a television and
film personality, and a
nutritionist. But one thing
that underlines all his
various roles is that he is
a man of nonviolent social
change.
His message
explained his experiences
in the civil rights
movement with Dr.
King, and enlightened
students on the effects
the movement has had on
society.
"I think about how
easy it is to believe that Dr.
King had never been in a
civil rights movement in
his life...” Gregory said,
“...in 1956 they brought
him into the movement
w ith no experience; 1968
In Sports
Fab Five wins UWG Final
Four tournament.
he was assassinated.”
He added with a jolt
of excitement, “...as close
as I was to him, I still can't
believe he did all that in
just 12 years!”
He continued to rave
about Dr. King as his voice
heightened.
“...most of you
don't know what he did
because in a white, racist,
sexist, insane system, they
have never told you who
this man and who this
movement really was—
and most of you black
folks don’t even know.”
Gregory told students
about his role in the
movement. "For 12 years,
1 was there. I don't have to
be validated. 1 was there
in Mississippi running
through the bushes, not
knowing if I'd live or die,
knowing when I left my
house I might not see my
wife and family again, but
I went anyway.”
He w ent on to explain
how the movement
brought change. “Tonight
and an established nutritionist.
In 1951. Hugh Heifner
invited Gregory to perform
at the Playboy Club, making
Gregory the first black comedian
to grace its stage. In opposition
to the political turmoil in the
United States Gregory ran for the
presidential election as a write
in candidate for the Freedom
and Peace Party in 1968. He
won some 1.5 million votes, and
helped propel Richard Nixon
into office over his Republican
opponent Hubert Humphrey. In
2001 he was diagnosed with
cancer. Refusing to treat himself
with chemotherapy, Gregory is
on a strict diet of exercise and
vitamins and is 85% cancer free
today.
At 75 year old Gregory is the
member of the Alpha Phi Alpha
Inc. fraternity, and he and his
lovely wife, Lil, have shared
42 years together and raised 10
children. He has written two
autobiographies, the first titled:
“Nigger”, and his most recent
so Civil Rights page 2
In Opinion
EH
Darfur needs your help.
WEDNESDAY, AI'RII. 4. 2007
as I stand here, a black
man heads the Mississippi
state tnxtpers. With no
guns, that change was
made. With no bitterness,
no meanness on our part,
tonight a black woman
heads social services in
the state of Mississippi.
Mississippi has more
black elected officials than
any state in America.”
Not only has the
movement brought change
for African Americans, but
it has changed women as
well.
“This movement,
in 12 years, civil rights
legislation came through
and saved everybody,
because of us. The civil
rights legislation didn't
save negros only,”
Gregory said. “Forty-five
years ago, a white woman
in America couldn’t fly
a commercial airline.
Forty-five years ago, a
w hite woman in America
couldn’t be a mechanic at
See Gregory page 7
El
1
Photo courtesy Facehook .com
Student
receives
prestigious
graduate
scholarship
By Miranda Byrd
Staff Writer
mirandajhyrd@ yahoo rom
For the average person
who has lived and studied
in Carrollton, Geoigia his
whole life, moving “across the
pond" may come as quite an
adjustment.
Logan Leslie is far from
the average person.
His extensive
undergraduate research,
coupled w ith a 4.0 GPA, the
distinction as a Goldwater
scholar and a number of
extracurricular activities
including the All-USA College
Academic Team'ssecond team,
awarded Leslie the prestigious
Gates Cambridge scholarship.
The Gates Cambridge
scholarship requires that
the recipient have a high
GPA and that he or she
graduate with honors from
a university, along with
acceptance into Cambridge.
The scholarship covers the
See leSlte page 3