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Dick Gregory
Comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory (1932–2017) became one of America's best-known teachers of fasting and natural diet, carrying the lessons of his mentor Alvenia Fulton to a national audience.
From the stage to the movement
Richard Claxton Gregory was born in St. Louis in 1932 and became one of the first Black comedians to perform for white audiences in major clubs in the early 1960s. He used that fame for the civil rights movement, marching in the South and being jailed for his activism (Associated Press).
Fasting as protest and as healing
Gregory turned to fasting first as a form of protest, going without food for long stretches against the Vietnam War, hunger and injustice. Through Chicago naturopath Dr. Alvenia Fulton, he gave up meat and took up a raw, plant-based diet and regular fasting (Andscape; Nursing Clio). Once an overweight smoker and drinker, he became a lean, energetic teacher of liquid meals and raw foods (Associated Press).
In 1973 he published Dick Gregory's Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin' with Mother Nature, with a foreword by Fulton. In the 1980s he created the Bahamian Diet nutritional drink and appeared on television talking about obesity, especially in poor communities (Associated Press).
Influence
Gregory brought natural diet and fasting to millions of Black Americans who had never heard of them. Queen Afua has said that finding his diet book as a teenager helped start her own path as a healer (Black Women's Religious Activism).
Death
Dick Gregory died in Washington, D.C., on 19 August 2017, at 84. His son Christian Gregory said that the very long protest fasts of his early years had damaged his health long before (Associated Press).
The healing claims
Dick Gregory taught that fasting and a raw, plant-based diet could heal the body and free Black communities from the diseases of poor nutrition. He said his own transformation, from an overweight smoker and drinker to a lean, energetic activist, was the proof.
Sources
- Associated Press, "Comedian, civil rights activist Dick Gregory dies at 84", via WTOP, August 2017 (Reference)
- Amsterdam News, "Memories of Dick Gregory, satirist and activist", 31 August 2017 (Reference)
- Andscape, "5 reasons to respect Dick Gregory", August 2017 (Reference)
- Nursing Clio, "Alvenia Fulton, Soul Food, and Black Liberation: An Interview with Travis Weisse", 6 July 2020 (Scholarly)
- Black Women's Religious Activism, "Helen \"Queen Afua\" Robinson" (Scholarly)