How a Medium Article Prompted Me to Write My Memoir Freaknik Lawyer
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.
Recently, I remarked to a neighbor that I was working on my memoir. She was excited to learn about my new project, but when I told her the title of my book, it conjured up the negative memories of crowded streets, scantily clad ladies and the smell of burnt rope in the air.
“Oh no,” she exclaimed. “I was working at Morehouse College when Freaknik was popular. The people were everywhere; I’m sure glad they don’t come to Atlanta anymore.”
For two decades Atlanta could count on a steady stream of Black college students flocking to the streets of Atlanta; just as Californians have come to expect Monarch Butterflies who migrate from their winter home in Mexico for sunny California in the spring of the year. The larvae are peculiar. They will only eat milkweed, a plant not found in Mexico, but California.
