Community

Cecil Brown: Present for Pryor’s rise, and his demise.

Published

11 years ago

September 26, 2013

In the book, “Pryor Lives!: Kiss My Rich, Happy Black…Ass!”, Cecil Brown tells the story of a mega-popular counterculture icon, from the perspective of someone he personally knew.

Cecil Brown met Richard Pryor in the parking lot of a club in Berkeley; Pryor was taking pulls from a cigarette, relaxing. He had just knocked the audience back with a comedy routine.

Brown last saw Pryor as he sat wheelchair bound, terminally ill, in his mansion in Southern California. Pryor had just enough energy to crack a joke or two about life.

In between, Cecil Brown, a writer from North Carolina, would become the best of friends with this comedian from Illinois, named “Rich”.

Before he met Pryor, Brown had already tasted stardom. After earning a Masters Degree from the University of Chicago, Brown published the book “The Life and Loves of Mr. Jiveass Nigger”. The book was immensely successful, and lead Brown to a career of writing everything from TV shows to movie scripts, and even opened the door for him to become a teacher.

While working as an educator in the Bay Area during the late 60’s, Brown got word of a hip comedian who was in town and decided to see his show. Brown ventured from his residence in the Berkeley Hills to Mandrake’s, an old nightclub that once stood on the corner of 10^th St. and University Ave.

Pryor, a young but experienced comedian, was looking for a new act. The counterculture lifestyle inside of Mandrake’s (and in Berkeley as a whole) assisted him in developing that new act, according to Brown.

Within the first couple chapters of his book, Brown writes:

“Frank McConnell said the court jesters had a magical function. They could say things that nobody else would dare utter to the King. They had license. But sometimes they went too far. Not only would they expose the disease of the society, but also often they embodied the disease and acted out the ritual.”

That was Pryor, according to Brown.

Pryor has been the subject of many documentaries, news reports and even an autobiography called “Pryor Convictions”, which was co-written by Tom Gold.

But Brown felt as though something was missing from history’s library.

“I wanted to show all of the aspects of Richards life,” said Brown, during an interview in a coffee shop near Oakland’s Lake Merritt. “And through that, I’d be able to show how comedy works. The comic is a rep or spokesman for a group of people who’ve been marginalized,” Brown concluded.

Brown’s expertise in storytelling is shown in this book, threefold.

He is a history buff, with knowledge of the ancient methods of storytelling. He references everything from the Dogon Nation’s way of laughing during funerals to Juvenal, the Roman Satirist.

Secondly, Brown looks at Pryor’s method of storytelling; much of which is done through analyzing the four stages of social drama: breach, crisis, redress, and reintegration (citing sociologist Victor Turner). Brown says that Pryor, although unintentionally, would go through the stages of social drama– and that’s where he’d get his best material.

The third lens is what makes this book special; Brown shares the perspective of two friends. The journey from their first meeting in the late 1960’s, to the last time Brown saw Pryor, before the comedian passed at age 65.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Related Topics:Cecil Brown Richard Pryor

Up Next

Families of Murder Victims Demand Justice from OPD

Don't Miss

‘Beautiful Brawlers’ Bouts Spotlight Women Boxers

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

7 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.