Dick Gregory’s War on Drugs | Folks

This episode of the series “Folks” from October 8, 1989, focuses on activist Dick Gregory’s anti-drug campaign at the A.B. Palmer Community Park in Shreveport, Louisiana. Sonya Masingale first reports on the event that led to Gregory’s crusade, the riots at the park following the shooting death of a black man by a white woman over a drug transaction in September 1988. Masingale then leads a panel discussion at A.B. Palmer Community Park with Dick Gregory, Chief Charles Gruber of the Shreveport Police Department, and Reverend James Green of Union Mission Baptist Church in Shreveport. They discuss: why Dick Gregory chose to start his campaign against drugs in Shreveport; the drug problem in Shreveport; the importance of the community working together to combat the problem; and what will happen when Gregory leaves Shreveport.