"Wanna Go to Jail With Me?"

Lonnie King, what an incredible character. I had the privilege of hearing him speak yesterday on the green in between Clark Atlanta and Morehouse campuses. He was part of the Student Movement during the 1960's and headed up the sit in on 15 of March. Lonnie knew Dr. Martin Luther King personally, even being baptized by Martin Luther King's father. One day he called up MLK Jr. and asked him, "wanna go to jail with me?" The two of them ended up getting arrested together during the sit in. Having the chance to meet someone that was this close with Martin Luther King was an honor and very cool. He talked a lot about the 60's movement and all the things he was apart of trying to desegregate restaurants and diners. Lonnie was even part of starting the newspaper Atlanta Inquirer which he staffed.

While we were on Morehouse Colleges campus we had the chance to see where Benjamin Mayes was buried, he was one of the most influential presidents of the college and was there while Martin Luther King Jr. attended school. Morehouse College is an all-male, private school that is historically a black school in Atlanta. It was a gorgeous campus to walk around and see.

For lunch, was another stop at a Southern Soul spot, Busy Bee. When we were in the process of ordering, I asked our waitress which cobbler I should get, Blackberry or Peach. She went on to tell me that we will get to that after I order my meal, but I wanted it first, she was flustered and told me she would just pick one for me and to go ahead with my ordering. She was great, her choice ended up being great, peach cobbler was deeply appreciated. I ordered the fried catfish and boy was that delicious food. All in all, it was a great stop along our tour.

The Fox Theater has a very dynamic history. It started out in 1928 as the home of the Atlanta Shriners organization. They tried having it look as though it were a mosque. Their ideas were very extravagant that they quickly ran out of money to finish the building which brought William Fox, of Fox Enterprises, in to help finish the construction. In 1929 on Christmas Day, The Fox Theater opened to a sold out crowd. Through the years it ran well, always doing movies and life productions. The people of Atlanta rallied together when there was talk about demolition and were able to save this beloved theater. During the time of segregation, African Americans had a separate entrance to the theater and had to walk up 93 steps on the outside of the theater in order to watch a show. This was the "Colored Section" of the theater, where the conditions of seeing a picture show or live performance were less than ideal. Having a chance to walk up those 93 steps on the outside of the theater to get to the top section of the theater, really gave me an appreciation for what people of color had to go through during segregation in order to watch a show. The Fox Theater has a done a wonderful job of keeping up with the preservation of the theater and has only made a few minor changes to modernize the place. They have even kept the restrooms up in the original "Colored Section" simple and the ones on the lower floor, more lavish and extravagant to preserve what it originally looked like. To this day they still have over 250 shows a year. Too bad I leave on Thursday because they are doing a showing of Rocky that evening in the theater.