*When we’re born with a gift, we’re not fully satisfied in our lives until we use that gift. No matter what that gift may be. So, when you’re born to be a comedian—to make people laugh—it’s hard to do anything different. It takes courage to move from the safety of our lifelong, proven comfort zone.
Can any of us imagine Richard Pryor standing before an audience and not cracking at least one joke? Just his facial expression alone—with an eyebrow raised and no words spoken—could evoke wild laughter! However, this was a day he did something a bit different, historically different, and he still got a standing ovation. (Along with more respect than he ever expected.)
It’s a new year—2026—with so much not-so-good-stuff still going on in this country. However, despite it all, having recently celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr’s Birthday, and while currently observing Black History Month, it seems the perfect time to share a beautiful moment in history; a moment in Richard Pryor’s history that not many of us knew about or perhaps have forgotten. And it is surely part of his legacy that he would want us all to remember about him—and to receive some personal value from it as well.
When Richard Pryor was asked to speak at a Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration in 1983, he was clearly shocked! But there must have been something about Richard that many folks didn’t know, and which sparked that invite into the mind of the man who asked him to speak.
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There were more than 1500 people in the crowd when Richard took the podium to loud, long applause at the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. They were already grinning, eagerly expecting him to deliver his gift—a joke. Yet they became attentive quickly when Richard Pryor began to share his respect for Dr. King and all the others who had stood bravely for the rights of Black people. “You have to be quiet to hear me,” Richard told the excited crowd. And the value of what they heard would surely last a lifetime.
Pryor began by saying: “I had to think whether I should come here today …I’m certainly not as eloquent as Dr. King, and I don’t lead any struggles. My heart is good. I’m a good person.” But Richard quickly assured the crowd that he did not want to say or do anything that would cast a blight upon Dr. King’s memory, nor thousands of others who courageously withstood the abuse and indignities as they fought for the rights of Black people:
Speaking in a soft, nervous, and very serious tone, Richard told the crowd, “You may not know how brave you were to do that…to sit there and take abuse …and be spat upon, hit in the head with clubs, stoned, ugly words thrown at you, and keep your dignity, and remain nonviolent. I was one of those people who said that if anyone ever did that to me, I’d stab ‘em in the eye, I’d hit ‘em in the head with a brick. That’s because I was frightened. I was too frightened to go down into Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia…I was too scared to sit in church at night and plan meetings…I was too frightened to be a part of that … but if it wasn’t for you people who were down there and did that…believe me, I know in my heart that I wouldn’t be here today.”
With those words, Richard Pryor shed tears. And as he spoke and wiped his eyes, there was loud applause, because others in the audience related to what Richard admitted. Many of them, too, were, perhaps, onlookers during those horrible years—yet they were now the ones who benefited from the wounds, tears, and sacrifices of those brave souls who were actually on the battlefield.
This was a side of Richard that most of the world had never seen—and it’s surely a treasured memory—as well as encouragement—for those who were present to hear his heart speak. We hope it will continue to be an inspiration for others who now know the other side of this famous man.
Like the beloved, gifted comedian Richard Pryor, we’ve all got to get out of our “gifted” comfort zones sometimes and say and do those things that are necessary and of value. Too many are still much too quiet, afraid, relying on others to be in the battle for simple righteousness.
Why ME? (Why NOT you may be a valid question to also ask.)
NOTE: After years of struggle to make MLK, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday, President Ronald Reagan, signed a federal law in 1983, making Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday an official holiday. However, his birthday was not observed/celebrated nationally until 1986.
Flo Jenkins is an award-winning writer/editorial consultant – a consummate communicator – with an extensive and successful background spanning a variety of industries, from entertainment (television, recording, stage, publishing) to advertising and promotions, education, health, and non-profits. Contact Flo via http://www.wordsthatflo.com or [email protected].
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