Aiee, The Fifties

In the 7^th grade, we moved to Atlanta.

My dad entered seminary on the GI Bill.

He was going to be a Methodist minister.

He attended Emory University. I went to

junior high school at Druid Hills. It was different from

Delray Elementary. More cosmopolitan. More sophisticated.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Dad sang in

the Glee Club. He did a thing with Martin Luther King, Sr.’s, church,

Ebenezer Baptist. Did he know John Lewis? He gave up on his dream

of being a preacher and went back to Delray Beach where he was a white

southern-moderate politician during the transition from racial segregation

to civil rights. The beaches, the swimming pool, the golf course,

the tennis courts, the public schools, restaurants, hotels,

Miami Beach, Sammy Davis, Jr. I had a little nigger

and he wouldn’t get bigger so I sold him to

a circus show. Hadacol bottlecaps.

Flying saucers. House of Wax.