Story highlights Dean Obeidallah: Dick Gregory did far more than tell pointed political jokes

He introduced the cruel reality of being black in America to white audiences across the country, writes Obeidallah

Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio's daily program "The Dean Obeidallah Show" and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Follow him @deanofcomedy. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) "You know the definition of a Southern moderate? That's a cat that'll lynch you from a low tree." That joke, delivered in the 1960s by trailblazing comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, who passed away Saturday, seems unsettlingly relevant in today's America. Though we aren't in the midst of the struggle for civil rights, that joke was about the evils of white supremacy -- something we are clearly still grappling with today.

Gregory has been credited by most as the first African-American comedian to reach fame by challenging racism through comedy. Richard Pryor may have put it best in a 2004 interview : "Dick Gregory was the greatest, and he was the first. Somebody had to break down that door."

He made people laugh while educating them about the most volatile issue of the time: Race.

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But what might surprise some is that Gregory was famously quoted in the early 1960s undercutting the power of comedy as an instrument of social change: "Humor can no more find the solution to race problems than it can cure cancer."

Over the years that quote -- or slight variations of it -- has been put to political comedians, including myself, when asked if our comedy can have an impact on hot button political issues. While I believe comedy can move the needle by, at the very least, raising awareness of issues, I also believe Gregory did far more than simply tell jokes. He risked his liberty and his life fighting for equality for African-Americans.

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