-Caveat Lector- Southern Illinois U. graduate Dick Gregory spearheads non-violent protest <http://news.excite.com/news/uw/010215/university-182> February 15, 2001 By Brett Nauman Daily Egyptian Southern Illinois U. (U-WIRE) CARBONDALE, Ill. - Dick Gregory has experienced racism his whole life. Now the activist and Southern Illinois University graduate will starve himself in an effort to end police brutality against blacks in the United States. On Jan. 15, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Gregory began a hunger strike. He will not eat solid food until Congress enacts legislation forcing police officials, FBI and CIA agents to carry licenses with their guns. "If the Ku Klux Klan call me a 'nigger,' I can call them a name right back," Gregory said. "If the Ku Klux Klan pulls a gun on me, I can snatch it away from them and either whoop or shoot them with it. I can't do this to a cop." The 78-year-old former Saluki track star said he believes police brutality can only be curbed by putting police officers in a position where they would have something to lose, namely their gun licenses. Gregory, Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III and other black activists have founded a group called "Enough is Enough." The group travels to different cities in the United States independently investigating cases of police brutality. Gregory said the group has consistently found cases of discrimination against blacks in the different cities. "White people aren't complaining about black cops shooting their family members," Gregory said. "Black cops know white people won't tolerate it." In Chicago, the group protested the death of SIU graduate and black woman LaTanya Haggerty. She was killed in a traffic stop on June 4, 1999. Police said they thought she was carrying a gun, but it was actually a cell phone. SIUC College of Engineering Administrator Bruce Chrisman remembers when Haggerty was killed. She graduated from the College of Engineering in 1996. "We had students in the department who remembered her," Chrisman said. "There isn't anything worse for an educator than seeing one of your students killed." Gregory and "Enough is Enough" also experienced police brutality in the community of Riverside, Calif. Gregory, Sharpton and King III were all thrown in jail there for protesting the death of Theresa Miller. Police shot Miller 14 times when they said she went for her gun in her car. Miller was epileptic and in the middle of a seizure when police fired at her. Police said they saw drugs in the car causing them to search her vehicle. The independent investigation conducted by the black community revealed the police planted a gun in Miller's car. Gregory said the family settled out of court for $10 million. "That money won't bring back their daughter," Gregory said. As a longtime friend of Gregory, Chrisman knows how serious he is about this protest. He said Gregory has tremendous will-power when he has a cause. "He started the fast at 150 pounds," Chrisman said. "He'll lose 60." Gregory, who is also a nutrition theorist, has participated in more than 125 hunger strikes. In 1967 Gregory began a hunger strike against the Vietnam War which lasted for more than two and a half years. In an average day, he consumes eight lemons, four oranges and three grapefruits in their blended liquid forms. He also drinks a cup and a half of maple syrup and a gallon of water. "As long as you get a gallon your body won't dehydrate," Gregory said. Gregory, who lives out of various hotel rooms to accommodate his hectic travel schedule, is prepared not eat solid food for years. He realizes that many more people will have to participate than just himself before Congress will feel much pressure. Gregory hopes big corporations will put pressure on Congress to pass the law. In the end Gregory said his cause will eventually accomplish its goal. "What I am doing represents light," Gregory said. "Police brutality represents darkness. Watch a sunset. Sunlight knocks nighttime right out of the sky." © 2001 Daily Egyptian via U-WIRE <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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