We are in the business of writing and publishing
Many people have written to me in private inquiring about how I am spending my time during the shutdown. So I shot a brief video to update my public on the past 30 days living during COVID-19.
I have attached the link below that will take you to this video and as you will see I am busy working at the writer’s trade.
It has taken me 24 years to embrace the nickname “Freaknik Lawyer.” In the last decade of the 20th century, the term “Freaknik” held negative connotations for many in the Atlanta community.
No reputable professional person wanted to be associated with the Black College Spring Break Festival which rapidly became known as Freaknik. Sadly, the negative rap Freaknik received two decades ago lingers.
Harold Michael Harvey is a writer and public speaker. He grew up in Macon, Georgia. In 1965, Harvey integrated one of the local Junior High Schools. Following high school he enrolled into Fort Valley State College where he majored in Political Science. He participated on the Debate Team and was an outfielder on the baseball team. Academically, Harvey was a member of the Dean’s List.
After completing his freshman year of college, Harvey transferred to Tuskegee Institute where he majored in Political Science and was a two year Letterman on the baseball team. He wrote a weekly column in the Campus Digest and graduated with a degree in Political Science. He was a few hours short of having a minor in Philosophy.
Upon graduation, Harvey returned to his hometown, where he worked as a school teacher and a journalist before enrolling into law school at the age of thirty. In law school he joined the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and became Vice President of the Student Government Association in his third year of law school. In his legal career, Harvey organized a successful personal injury law firm and later after meeting Johnnie Cochran, ventured into criminal defense work. In the mid-1990s Harvey represented over 180 college students arrested in the city of Atlanta during a Black College spring break festival known as Freaknic.
He offered this service at no cost to the students who were charged with violating minor city ordinances. In 1996, he was honored by the Gate City Bar Association with the R. E. Thomas, Civil Rights Award. In 1997, he was President of the Gate City Bar Association and instituted a Hall of Fame for Gate City Bar members.
In 2001, Harvey served as a legal commentator for WXIA-TV during the Ray Lewis murder trial. It is believed that it was his commentary that gave the State the impetus to reduce charges against Lewis in the middle of the trial. At the turn of the century, Harvey’s wife became ill and he could no longer maintain an active practice and take care of his family, so he had to close his legal practice.
After his wife’s health challenge stabilized, he got back to his passion for writing literature and in 2010 published his first book, Paper Puzzle, a legal thriller set in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. In 2015, he published a collection of essays on the American justice system titled, Justice in the Round: Essays on the American Jury System.
Also, in 2015. Harvey became a regular commentator on the Tracy Larkin Broadcast Network (http://www.tlbnetwork.com/). Each Saturday at noon in the eastern time zone, Harvey can be heard offering his opinions on the major political and legal issues of the day.
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com