Macon Native Pens Book on the First Black Council Members

Fantasy Five: An Improbable History

In 1977, Harold Michael Harvey was editor of the Macon Courier. He won a Bronze Medal for Outstanding Work In Newspaper Journalism. (c) 2013

Harold Michael Harvey, who grew up in the Unionville community and helped organize the Unionville Improvement Association, has penned a book, Fantasy Five: An Improbable History. The book is about the first five Black members of the Macon, Georgia City Council.

Harvey said it is essential to do this book because the five have largely been forgotten in the history of Middle Georgia.

Founded in 1823, Macon, Georgia, was a White only ruled town until 1975. (c) 2024

“Although my literary genius has yet to receive acclaim on my talent level, I have dipped into the retirement fund again to fund my latest work, Fantasy Five: An Improbable History. This tale is about the first five Black members of the Macon, Georgia City Council. Elected in 1975, the 50th Anniversary is next year. The book honors their memory, Black and American History contributions, and legacy,” Harvey said.

Harvey wrote the definitive book on the one-hundred-sixty-year history of the Bethel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church last year. The book is Watch Night: Our Souls Cried Out for Freedom, A Narrative History of the Bethel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, from 1863 to 2023. He believes it is essential to tell the accurate history of Black people in Macon-Bibb County, Georgia.

Freaknik Lawyer: A Memoir on the Craft of Resistance won him a Bronze Medal from the Living Now Book Awards 2020. An award-winning Hollywood producer is currently pursuing this book.

Harvey left Macon in 1980 to attend law school in Atlanta. He drives to Macon on Sundays and still worships at his childhood church, Bethel C. M. E. Church. Harvey is an avid gardener growing roses, tomatoes, peppers, squash, collard greens and callaloo.

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Published by Michael

Harold Michael Harvey is a Past President of The Gate City Bar Association and is the recipient of the Association’s R. E. Thomas Civil Rights Award. He is the author of Paper Puzzle and Justice in the Round: Essays on the American Jury System, and a two-time winner of Allvoices’ Political Pundit Prize. His work has appeared in Facing South, The Atlanta Business Journal, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Magazine, Southern Changes Magazine, Black Colleges Nines, and Medium.