JoAnn Watson (910 AM photo)
JoAnn Watson (910 AM photo)
JoAnn Watson, the former Detroit city councilwoman, has fond memories of the late comic and activist Dick Gregory, who died Aug. 19 at age 84.
In a column in Motor City Muckraker, Watson writes:
I was his Detroit “Sister.”
Dick Gregory came to Detroit to headline my first political fundraiser, held at the Roostertail, in February 2003. As usual, he brought the house down with his inimitable wry, witty, human-rights spiced style of humor.
He also gave me some sage advice, “Convert some of your lawn signs into sandwich-board posters and put them on at the busiest intersections in the city!”
Adding, with a twinkle in his eye, “You’ll win.”
And I did! Two months later, on April 29, 2003, I defeated highly-favored Gil Hill, who had been predicted by all the pundits to win by a landslide.
Dick Gregory (Photo: Elvert Barnes)It was serendipity that Dick Gregory was the Keynoter during my first City Council race in 2003, and was also the Keynoter at my City Council retirement in December 2013, held at The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
Read the full column here.
