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IT’S MY LIFE
When Old Friends and Forgotten Memories Resurface
A blast from the past conjures up dangerous times
I opened my Instagram page last night and found a message from an old friend from high school. She went through the motions of re-introducing herself, just in case I didn’t remember her but of course, I remember her.
Back in high school I was very militant — a wanna-be Angela Davis. Linda was one of my white friends.
Actually, she and my boyfriend were pals first. She then befriended me. I remember being just a little bit suspicious of that because, like many white girls at Harper High School, Linda was friendly with several black guys in our class.
Oh yes. In 1971, plenty of “mysterious new territory” was explored in darkened stairwells and under the gymnasium bleachers. Interracial relationships out in the open were still non-existent at Harper, but you could smell the jungle fever.
“Black boys are so pretty, chocolate flavored love, licorice lips like candy, keep my cocoa handy, I have such a sweet tooth when it comes to love.” — lyrics from the 1968 musical HAIR
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Chicago in 1966 and led a march right past our apartment building on 71st Street, crossing Ashland Avenue —…
