Richard Pryor, RIP

CNN has the story. His comedy said things Bill Cosby's wouldn't, and evoked hearty guffaws in the process. We'll not soon forget the frantic body language that was part of Pryor's trademark when he got on a rant. Not to diss Cosby - in recent years, he's said insightful things few other black Americans of national stature were willing to say (Thomas Sowell comes to mind as one of the few). Both men - Pryor first, and Cosby later, helped to open a frank American discussion about our peculiar national issues with race. Neither's contribution was "politically correct" - and therein lies the special worth their commentary has had for their countrymen, black and white.

Update 12/12/05: Drudge links to this excellent reflection on Pryor's life and work by Stanley Crouch.