I wanted to read this book far longer than it’s been in my Audible library.
At this writing, I’m about an hour and a half from finishing and it’s safe to say, I’ve gone through a few stages during the reading. Initially, it had the feel of sitting at the feet of a wise old sage, perhaps even a griot who was purposefully bridging generations to transfer first-hand eye-witness knowledge within the community.
Then there was a stage of awe, followed by incredulity, then keen moments of disgust, to where I’d sit with irate frustration, cursing in my car.
My short summary now is Gregory was an asshole. An insensitive jerk of such magnitude, it’s impossible to wrap my mind or sensitivities around the thought. He comes across as a know-it-all-name-dropping gossip riding the coattails of historical figures in order to position himself in prominent historic incidents a la Forest Gump.
He repeatedly neither confirmed nor denied any of the accusations of violence against his famous male comrades who are known to have abused and violated women, yet in the next breath, he’d send prayers up for the welfare of those men’s souls and the families they left behind. He claimed to be the reason Marvin Gaye’s father sat in the front row during his funeral. Claimed the reason Kennedy changed welfare for families was because Gregory was supplying the poor with tons of food, and they didn’t want him to get more credit than the government.
He seems to have no emotional intelligence or empathy for the hard moments, even for himself. He said he spoke with Malcolm X the day he died. Told him he had a change of plans and wouldn’t make the meeting. He assured Malcolm he was going to die that day and apologized for not being able to die with him, but he “had a plane to catch.” He shared that at one point, he received a call from a family friend to come home. He refused. The friend said, “Your baby son is sick.” What’s that got to do with me? Then the friend said, “Dick! Your son is dead! Come be with your wife!” He didn’t say that he went home. He changed the topic. Astounding!
He may have loved his wife, but it’s not clear. At one point, he said he told her he didn’t care about love, he cared that she was lovable. He claimed that her lovableness enabled them to be married for fifty-eight years at the time he wrote his book. The unfortunate irony is that he doesn’t sound lovable at all. Perhaps his absence from the home enabled her to continue in the marriage.
Overall, the majority of the book seems to be short blurbs on historic figures with his thoughts about them. Good, bad, ugly, or rude. Nothing about how his relationships or interactions furthered movements. Nothing about how his activism improved his humanity or the country. For example, he took issue with Academy Award winner Hattie McDaniel saying she “preferred to play a maid than be one” in response to criticism within the Black community of her mainly playing maids throughout her career. Gregory said when he finally got to meet Ms. McDaniel, she beamed at him during the introduction. He told her bluntly, “You won’t be smiling when I finish with you!” Then berated her for “demeaning” the profession of his mother and the majority of Black Women in America. The audacity! The gall! The idiocy! Did he think his mother actually wanted to be a maid?!?! Anyone with sense would prefer to play the role of a maid for income than actually have to work as one!
Additionally, he comes across as having white man envy. Rage could be blocking the specific instances from my memory, but a few times he deviated from highlighting Black greatness to gush over his favorite white men – Mark Twain and George Washington are two examples. His cognitive dissonance had to be painful to witness up close.
I enjoyed the first quarter or so of the audiobook. I am more than familiar with the work and biographies of many of the people he talked about, so Gregory’s perspective of their interactions didn’t ring as true or accurate. He comes across as a self-hating black man who ranks his respect of people based on color and sex. White men are at the top, followed by black men. No respect for Black Women, not even his wife. Overall, a disappointing listening experience about someone I generally had good thoughts about before listening to his thoughts.
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