Six years after he delivered the keynote address and received The Chairman’s Award at the 26th Annual MLK Statewide Kickoff for Missouri, comedy pioneer and civil rights legend Dick Gregory will posthumously receive the receive the Dr. Henry Givens Jr. Legacy Award.
Gregory, who passed away August 19, 2017 at the age of 84, will be honored for his lifelong commitment to civil rights and equality at the 32nd Annual Celebration on Saturday (January 6) at Harris-Stowe State University’s Main Auditorium.
“It was Dick Gregory that went with us around to the bars and pool halls – along with Martin Luther King,” Andrew Young, a civil rights icon in his own right, said about Gregory during Why We Laugh, a television program that documented the history of African American comedy. “He was there to help people to realize that the only way this movement could be defeated is if people lost their cool and got angry.”
Born and bred in St. Louis, Dick Gregory forfeited his comedy career and committed his life to fighting for freedom, equality and justice.
“I get a call from Dr. King,” Gregory told The American about his transition for funny man to freedom fighter back in 2012. “That was interesting because that’s where my spirit changed.”
Dick Gregory will be recognized alongside Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Eta Boulé St. Louis (Distinguished Community Service Award) State Representative Bruce Franks Jr. (Distinguished Social Action Award) and Bernie Hayes (Distinguished Drum Major Award). CNN analyst, attorney and former State Representative Bakari Sellers will provide this year’s keynote address.
“He just paved the way for a whole lot of people coming behind him,” Ron Gregory said of his older brother. “And in 1976 they named a street in his honor and it intersects with Dr. Martin Luther King – the way his life did.”
A voice for the ages
Saturday’s festivities will also see local media legend Bernie Hayes bestowed with the Distinguished Drum Major for Justice Award.
According to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission, the Distinguished Drum Major Award recognizes a person or organization that “continues the beat of justice in honoring Dr. King’s dream.”
“We honor you for keeping the legacy of Dr. King, and for your tireless efforts to exemplify Dr. King’s ideals and commitments,” Dwaun J. Warmack, Ed.D, president of Harris-Stowe State University and chairman of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission, said of Hayes in the announcement that he would be the 2018 recipient of the award.
Hayes is living, breathing, walking history when it comes to black entertainment and media in St. Louis. An author, former radio personality, television personality and St. Louis American columnist, Hayes has nearly 55 years of experience in St. Louis media – and the stories to prove it.
After introducing their music to St. Louis on his radio program the year before, Hayes brought a then unknown children’s band from Gary, Indiana that consisted of five brothers (with a 7-year-old Michael Jackson as their lead singer) to the region for the first time in 1967 to perform at the London House East. Immediately afterward, he had to front their father Joseph Jackson the gas money to get back home. It was classic Bernie Hayes.
In April of 2017, Hayes was appointed director of the Wolff Jazz Institute at Harris-Stowe State University. He is also a media professor at Webster University and founder of the National Black Radio Hall of Fame.
He is still a treasured voice thanks to his long-running television program that was most recently featured on KNLC-TV and his columns for The American.
Hayes regularly references the teachings and legacy of Dr. King within his commentary, particularly to pay homage near the national holiday that commemorates his birth.
He reflected on the significance of King’s dream and what he felt would have been the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s best birthday – as an 80 year-old watching the first African American President of the United States being sworn into office.
This past January, his column served as a reminder of King’s legacy – and the fact that it is often misconstrued.
“Everyone in the United States knows about Dr. Martin Luther King. He is a symbol of national pride. They know the myths, the legends, and even some of the facts,” Hayes wrote in his column last year entitled How Would Dr. King Celebrate his 88th Birthday? “Much of the truth is obscured by the romanticized mythology surrounding him. But the fact is that he was an amazing leader.”
Harris-Stowe State University will host the 2018 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. State Celebration Commission of Missouri Kick-off Program on Saturday, January 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Auditorium, 3026 Laclede. For more information, visit www.hssu.edu.
