Dick Gregory was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Sumner High School and excelled in track as a half-miler and miler. He received a scholarship to run track at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. When in college, he set several school records, but his time there was cut short when he was drafted into the US Army in 1954.

Gregory was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Lee in Virginia and Fort Smith in Arkansas. While in the army, he was known to his comrades as a jokester. His commanding officer suggested that he enter several talent contests as a comedian. It was there that his career as a comedian began and he became highly successful. When he left the army in 1956, he chose not to finish college and moved to Chicago in hopes of becoming a professional comedian.

Gregory’s career got off to a bumpy start. He failed as a comedian when he started in 1958 and ended up working for the United States Postal Service. He kept trying to get into show business and finally landed a job as the master of ceremonies at the black-owned Roberts Show Club in Chicago. One night, Roberts was performing as master of ceremonies when Hugh Hefner of Playboy Magazine walked in. When Hefner heard his standup act, he immediately hired him to do comedy at his Chicago Playboy Club. He instantly became a hit with both white and black audiences. Gregory was invited to appear on the Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar on television, but her refused because the black comedians were not allowed to sit on the couch and be interviewed after their standup routine. Finally, Jack Paar agreed to Gregory’s terms and became the first black comedian to be interviewed on the show.

Gregory brought comedy to the civil rights movement. His act mocked bigotry and racism in America. Gregory took his comedy to the south during the Civil Rights Movement and was chastised and ridiculed. He was invited by a group of students to speak at the University of Tennessee. When the university revoked his invitation, the students sued and won an order from the court that allowed Gregory to freely speak on campus. Gregory spoke in Selma, Alabama at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, protested the Vietnam War, actively took part in several hunger strikes, and marched in several demonstrations. He became active in politics, running against Richard Daley for Mayor of Chicago. He was a write-in candidate for President of the United States. He won a case in the United States Supreme Court overturning his arrest in a peaceful protest. Gregory stated a company that brought health service to poor black urban neighborhoods. He became an outspoken critic of the Warren Commission’s findings on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He became an outspoken feminist and joined in rallies for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. He conducted research into the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and convinced Congress to investigate the murder in the 1970s. In 1980, he travelled to Tehran, Iran to try to negotiate the release of American hostages and even went on a hunger strike to gain their release.

Gregory died in 2017 in Washington, DC. His legacy lives on as a pioneering comedian, author, civil rights activist, actor and entrepreneur. He brought black humor in to mainstream white American and shown a light on the injustices of racism. He wrote numerous books and recorded over a dozen comedy albums. He received an honorary doctorate from South Illinois University and received over 100 awards for his work in civil rights. Gregory was presented with the key to the City of St. Louis and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His numerous contributions made Dick Gregory a Great American.

Ida B. Wells was born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1862. She was freed one year later by the Emancipation Proclamation. Both of her parents worked for the advancement of blacks. She attended Rust College, a school for freed blacks, in Holly Springs, but was expelled for rebellious behavior. At the age of sixteen, she lost both of her parents to Yellow Fever. In 1878, she convinced a school administrator that she was 18 years old and gained a position as a teacher. In 1882, she moved with her siblings to Memphis, Tennessee and was able to continue her education at Fisk University in Nashville.

Her life changed in 1884. She was boarding a train from Memphis to Nashville with a first-class ticket. Wells was told that she had to ride in the black train car instead. She refused to move and was forcibly removed from the train. She sued the railroad, but lost her case in the Tennessee Supreme Court. Because of this event, she was motivated to start writing about the racial injustices in the South under the pen name "Iola." Wells gained a national audience and soon became co-owner of the Memphis newspaper "Free Speech and Headlight."

In 1892, three African-American friends of Wells were arrested for killing white vandals of their grocery store. They were arrested, but never had a chance to defend themselves because they were lynched by a white mob in the jail cells. Wells-Barnett put her own life at risk by writing articles condemning lynching in the South. Whites in Memphis destroyed her offices while she was in New York City. They threatened to kill her if she ever returned to Memphis again.

In New York, she continued to write reports about lynching in America. She lectured in the United States and abroad about the plight of blacks in America. Her efforts were funded by famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass. In 1896, she co-founded the National Association of Colored Women. By 1898, she moved to Washington, DC and campaigned for President William McKinley to make reforms. She was also involved in the NAACP.

In the 20th Century, she worked on behalf of women's rights in America. She helped create the first African-American kindergarten. She ran, unsuccessfully, for public office. All the while, she continued her efforts to write about the problems of racism in America.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a great female champion of civil rights in America. Her experiences in the South inspired her to take up the pen in the cause of equal rights. She refused to give up her seat 60 years before Rosa Parks did in Montgomery, Alabama. Her story is one of a great American.