Let me start by saying one of my biggest regrets as a Black Gen X'r is that I never got a chance to go to Freaknik. During its heyday, I was a young 20-something single mother who honestly didn’t have the support that would’ve allowed me to traipse off for a wild weekend of fun and frivolity. But it seems many people who attended are now having what is perceived as a “chickens coming home to roost” moment. Why?!
A brief history
Freaknik started humbly in 1982 as a small picnic organized by students from Spelman College and Morris Brown College in Atlanta, GA as a spring break celebration. The event soon attracted students from other Black colleges in the area.
By 1992 Freaknik morphed from a modest spring break gathering to what some perceived as a wildly out-of-control, overly sexualized free-for-all that strayed far away from its original intent. Soon non-college students and hot 90s-era celebrities were partaking in the revelry.
There were attempts to rebrand Freaknik by adding career fairs, community basketball games, and vendors and renaming it Sweet Auburn Festival and Black College Weekend. But those attempts never quite took hold. What started as a small picnic thrown by a couple of HBCUs detonated into a street party for the ages and the culture.
Here comes the Freaknik boogeyman
Fast forward some 30 years and a full-blown panic is sweeping through the community of Freaknik flockers, particularly women at a very different station in life who attended the festival as young college coeds.
Streaming provider Hulu announced an upcoming documentary titled Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told which includes executive producers Jermaine Dupri and Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell at the helm, will be released sometime next year. Collective gasps along with lawsuits began to ensue.
One such lawsuit has been filed by a group of prominent Black women trying to block the documentary from being aired due to them possibly being shown in an unfavorable light.
Why does this documentary have Black Gen X shook? The latchkey generation who pretty much raised itself from ages 5 to 17, lived their lives by the streetlights, subsisted on the neighborhood blackberry bushes and garden hose water, and survived watching Michael Jackson catching fire. Is the ultimate “throw up the middle finger to just about anything” generation possibly having a fucked around and finding-out moment? How can this be? Cancel culture.
A lot of people who went to Freaknik, specifically the women, are extremely concerned the once-archived footage of the sexy shenanigans that had been relegated to videos on ancient handheld camcorders, will be released for all the world to see and open themselves up to harsh criticism, consequences, and cancellation. Personal and professional relationships could possibly be at risk.
But why aren’t the men who went to Freaknik part of the outrage and shaking in their boots? A lot of today’s daddies, granddaddies, and uncles were down there holding those camcorders and actively participating in the shenanigans, and NOT so quiet as it’s kept, a lot of those shenanigans were HIGHLY questionable…possibly criminal.
Barring any possible crimes that may have been committed (which obviously should be dealt with), should what you did as a young college student some 30 years ago matter at this station in life? Wildin’ out and enjoying new-found freedom outside of your parent’s house is expected.
That’s what those young years are for, to go full speed, all gas and no brakes so in 30 years you can sit around with your friends and say “Yo remember that time we (fill in the blank)? That was some wild shit!” And laugh and toast the fact that you survived it and can now celebrate how far you all have come.
The once young and free-spirited festival-goers are now parents, grandparents, CEOs, pastors and first ladies of churches mega and minuscule, politicians, PTSA Presidents, doctors, lawyers, etc., and hold respected positions in their communities. To them, I offer the following:
As someone who wasn’t able to participate in this event, I submit that you revel in the history that you’re part of, and don’t let the judgment or jealousy of others ruin that for you. Have a watch party or a private viewing when the documentary drops. Reminisce and offer a toast and a nod to that former young wild side and one last time let your Freaknik flag fly.