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Description edit
Before Richard Pryor and Dave Chappel, Steve Harvey and Chris Rock, there was Dick Gregory. He was one of the first to use comedy as a tool to wake up people about the social and political ills that plague our society. In addition to being a comic, Gregory is also a Civil Rights and social... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
This book detailed the life of Robert Lipsyte. I was truly surprised how much of an activist he was. Don't let the title fool you. He let you know why he chose that title in the dedication to his mother. The beginning of the book catches your attention and keeps it all the way till the end.... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Richard Junior: Add a description of this character.
- Mister Gregory
- Momma
- Greenwood
- Presley
- Dolores
- Mister Ben
- Lillian
- Dick
- Michele
- Jackson
- Doc Lingle
- Sally Wells
- Garland
- Jim Sanders
- Helene Tucker
- Maryann
- Roberts
- Kennard
- Ronald
- Medgar
- Pauline
- William
- M.c.
- Herman
- Martin Luther King
- Sammy Davis
- Robbins
- John
Quotes edit
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“Poor is a state of mind you never grow out of, but being broke is just a temporary condition.”
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“If you walk through life showing the aggravation you've gone through, people will feel sorry for you, and they'll never respect you.”
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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Poor is a state of mind you never grow out of, but being broke is just a temporary condition.
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I guess she couldn’t see a kid who made noises because he wanted someone to know he was there.
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when a man sells his talents he’s a prostitute, and when you’re a prostitute you lay like the customer wants you to lay.
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And it dawned on me that anytime you help a Negro in America, even the Negroes will question your intentions.
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When I step up on that stage, in their neighborhood, some of them are going to feel sorry for me because I’m a Negro, and some of them are going to hate me because I’m a Negro. Those who feel sorry might laugh a little at first. But they can’t respect someone they pity; and eventually they’ll stop laughing. Those who hate me aren’t going to laugh at all.
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I guess the system didn’t want her to get off relief, the way it kept sending social workers around to make sure Momma wasn’t trying to make things better.
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Pregnant people get strange tastes. I was pregnant with poverty. Pregnant with dirt and pregnant with smells that made people turn away, pregnant with cold and pregnant with shoes that were never bought for me, pregnant with five other people in my bed and no Daddy in the next room, and pregnant with hunger. Paste doesn’t taste too bad when you’re hungry.
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now I’m a man and I have to take care of myself. I need a fast comeback to that word. That split second is all the difference between going on with the show or letting the customers feel pity and a little resentment for the entertainer who got put down.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers -
I’ve got to go up there as an individual first, a Negro second. I’ve got to be a colored funny man, not a funny colored man. I’ve got to act like a star who isn’t sorry for himself—that way, they can’t feel sorry for me. I’ve got to make jokes about myself, before I can make jokes about them and their society—that way, they can’t hate me. Comedy is friendly relations.
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“You know, my contract reads that every time I hear that word, I get fifty dollars more a night. I’m only making ten dollars a night, and I’d like to put the owner out of business. Will everybody in the room please stand up and yell nigger?”
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Chicago
- St. Louis
- America
- Mississippi
- Birmingham
- Carbondale
- Sncc
- San Francisco
- Big Pres
- New York
- Boo
- Selma
First Sentence edit
It's a sad and beautiful feeling to walk home slow on Christmas Eve after you've been out hustling all day, shining shoes in the white taverns and going to the store for the neighbors and buying and stealing presents from the ten-cent store, and now it's dark and still along the street and your feet feel warm and sweaty inside your tennis sneakers even if the wind finds the holes in your mittens.
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: E P Dutton
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 1964
ISBN: 0525166971
Page Count: 224
Publisher: E P Dutton
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 1964
ISBN: 0525166971
Page Count: 224
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 920
Subjects edit
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