September 1965, this young man and 12 others integrated Lanier Jr. High.
On Saturday, September 21, 2019, from 6-9pm at the Douglass Theatre in Macon, Georgia, the older man will read from his memoir Freaknik Lawyer about the horror he felt that day, 54 years ago.
“I grew up a lot my first day at school with white kids,” Harvey said.
He added, “I was not prepared for the reception I received, the constant name-calling from the other kids, and the mean-spirited teachers.”
Like many other Black boys during the dying days of segregation, Harvey took out much of his frustration on the football field.
“Woe on any kid who I could not catch in the hallway after a racial slur. When running the football from my fullback position, I would reverse field just to find the kid I wanted to drop my shoulder into as I had seen Jim Brown punish defenders on televised games.” Harvey said.
Join us. If you can’t join us pick up a copy of Freaknik Lawyer: A Memoir on the Craft of Resistance at https://squareup.com/store/harold-michael-harvey
Harold Michael Harvey is the author of Freaknik Lawyer: A Memoir on the Craft of Resistance. He is a Past President of the Gate City Bar Association. He is the recipient of Gate City’s R. E. Thomas Civil Rights Award, which he received for his pro bono representation of Black college students arrested during Freaknik celebrations in the mid to late 1990s. An avid public speaker, contact him at [email protected]