A DIALOGUE WITH DICK GREGORY

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Feb. 17, 2006- Comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory will speak at 11 a.m., Friday, Feb. 24 at Community College of Philadelphia's Winnet Student Life Building on 17th Street, between Spring Garden and Callowhill streets.

Community College's Office of Student Life and the African-American Men's Book Club are coordinating the event, entitled, "A Dialogue With Dick Gregory," as part of African-American Heritage Month. Gregory is expected to speak on the topic: "The cultural disconnect in higher education."

During the 1960s, Gregory, 73, was a highly sought after comedian. He sold out night clubs, made numerous television appearances, and recorded popular comedy albums, according to his website.

Inspired by the work of civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Gregory used his celebrity status to draw attention to issues such as segregation and disenfranchisement.

His autobiography, "Nigger," was published in 1964 and became a best seller. He explained his choice for the title in a note to his mother in the forward of the book. "Whenever you hear the word 'Nigger,'" he wrote. "You'll know (they're) advertising my book."

During the 1960s, Gregory participated in marches and parades to support a range of causes, including opposition to the Vietnam War, world hunger, and drug abuse.

In 1973, the year he released his comedy album, "Caught in the Act," he became a nutritional consultant and in 1984 he founded Health Enterprises, Inc., a company that distributed weight loss products. In 1987, Gregory, a cancer survivor, introduced the Slim-Safe Bahamian Diet, a powdered diet mix.

According to Gregory's website, his most recent book, "Callus on My Soul," is an autobiography that updates his earlier autobiography, "Nigger," because as Gregory says, "I've lived long enough to need two autobiographies, which is fine with me."