Berkley Center

Richard Claxton “Dick” Gregory (1932-2017) offered a comical articulation of religious belief and belonging through his speeches and religious writings during the 1960s and 1970s. As a religious teacher, Gregory bore an irreverent scriptural authority for his readers and comedy audiences who sought a prominent, public affirmation of their suspicion and criticism of religious authorities and conventional religious teachings. Gregory’s irreverence allowed for the maintenance of belief in both the divine and in the justness of remaking an oppressive, violent, unequal world through nonviolent activism, according to the teachings of the King James scriptures that he read throughout his life. Consequently, his irreverent religious rhetoric also modeled for audiences ways to reframe religious commitments to produce social change despite ambivalences about their own commitments to religious traditions.

At this Religion, Culture, and Politics Workshop, Vaughn A. Booker, assistant professor of religion and African and African American studies at Dartmouth University, presented his paper on Gregory, using a focus on Gregory’s explicitly religious writings and speeches to develop a scholarly portrait of his popular religious teachings during his most visible public presence as an activist and comedic entertainer.