Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies

NAACP 2017 Image Award Winner

With his trademark acerbic wit, incisive humor, and infectious paranoia, one of our foremost comedians and most politically engaged civil rights activists looks back at 100 key events from the complicated history of black America.

A friend of luminaries including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Medgar Evers, and the forebear of today’s popular black comics, including Larry Wilmore, W. Kamau Bell, Damon Young, and Trevor Noah, Dick Gregory was a provocative and incisive cultural force for more than fifty years. As an entertainer, he always kept it indisputably real about race issues in America, fearlessly lacing laughter with hard truths. As a leading activist against injustice, he marched at Selma during the Civil Rights movement, organized student rallies to protest the Vietnam War; sat in at rallies for Native American and feminist rights; fought apartheid in South Africa; and participated in hunger strikes in support of Black Lives Matter.

In this collection of thoughtful, provocative essays, Gregory charts the complex and often obscured history of the African American experience. In his unapologetically candid voice, he moves from African ancestry and surviving the Middle Passage to the enjoyment of bacon and everything pig, the headline-making shootings of black men, and the Black Lives Matter movement. A captivating journey through time, Defining Moments in Black History explores historical movements such as The Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance, as well as cultural touchstones such as Sidney Poitier winning the Best Actor Oscar for Lilies in the Field and Billie Holiday releasing Strange Fruit.

An engaging look at black life that offers insightful commentary on the intricate history of the African American people, Defining Moments in Black History is an essential, no-holds-bar history lesson that will provoke, enlighten, and entertain.

Dick Gregory was an unsparing and incisive cultural force for more than fifty years: a friend of such luminaries as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers, Gregory is an unrelenting, lifelong activist against social injustice, whether he was marching in Selma during the Civil Rights movement or organizing student demonstrations to protest the Vietnam War, participating in rallies for Native American and feminist rights or fighting apartheid in South Africa. 

Known as much for his comedic achievements—as an actor, author, and social critic—as for his activism, Gregory was the forebearer of today’s new generation of black comics, including Larry Wilmore, W. Kamau Bell, and Trevor Noah. But Gregory always kept it indisputably real when discussing race in America, fearlessly lacing laughter with controversial truths in a manner that is inimitably his own.

Now, in Defining Moments in Black History, Gregory charts the empowering yet often obscured past of the African American experience. In his unapologetically candid voice, he moves from African ancestry and surviving the Middle Passage to modern-day protests. A captivating journey through time, this collection of provocative essays explores historical movements such as the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance, as well as cultural touchstones, among them Marian Anderson’s performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and Billie Holiday’s haunting delivery of “Strange Fruit.”

Here is an essential, unique, no-holds-barred history lesson, sure to provoke, enlighten, uplift, and entertain—from one of our greatest living legends.

“Gregory’s examination of American history from a black perspective is both humorous and inspiring.” - Booklist

“I am honored to recommend my good friend Dick Gregory’s narrative on the history of America as a vital resource manual for this and future generations. For over fifty years, Dick has trusted in God to enable him to fearlessly speak truth to power and bring revelation to the masses without regard for negative consequences or financial reward. The world we live in can only benefit from reading and sharing this important work with anyone who may have forgotten or is without comprehensive knowledge of true American history.” - Martin Luther King III

“In an unprcedented show of compassion and courage, Dick Gregory has knitted together side-splitting humor and hard truths. He has awakened generations of Americans who bow when they hear his name.”

“In this book, he combines … talents to tell a history that is at once tragic, inspiring, revealing, and even tear-jerking. Each bite-sized section recounts truly defining moments in black history…. packed with information and often laced with humor and firsthand accounts, bringing plenty of liveliness to the narrative…. This eye-opening volume is sure to get readers thinking.” - Library Journal

“The book is full of such eye-opening—sometimes shocking—historical tidbits, about everything from Rosa Parks to the Dred Scott decision to Pullman Porters to the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the Million Man March to W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and the Atlanta Compromise. The book is full of heroes and heroines, many that history books overlook—e.g., Dorothy Height, the “godmother of civil rights.” Not surprisingly in a book from Gregory, the conspiracy theories are in abundance, and many make perfect sense. Gregory’s devotion to civil rights and his global recognition add to his appealing writing style and clever sense of humor to make this a book for a wide audience.” - Kirkus