Back in the Day: Trip down memory lane

As we move into 2022, I shall highlight some of my favorite 2021 columns that reflected life, back in the day.

More than fifty-two Back in the Day columns were printed in this paper last year; a result of this column each Sunday. A variety of subjects were covered. Just last month, I wrote about memories of Christmas trees and Santa Claus. Other Sundays, I focused on the events of September 11, roller skating, corner stores, Uncle Tom, the bogeyman, drive-through restaurants, the handyman and the jack leg among others. But, those that generated the most comments from readers were the columns on calling parents by their first names, asking for a bag for purchases made at a store, skin color, the black book, telephone exchanges, Kilroy was Here, the Bogeyman and, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). So, let me drill down on these columns that hopefully took you, the reader, on some memorable trips, back in the day.

I suspect that I stepped on some toes with my column on children addressing parents by their first names. In this column, I commented on how young people, related or not, always addressed adults with respect. I pointed out that the use of Mister, Mrs., or Miss for Black families was expected; there were no exceptions. In your interactions with adults, you always addressed them with dignity and respect. Then there was my column on getting a bag before leaving the store whenever you made a purchase. If you recall, I was unhappy when at checkout, I was asked if I wanted a bag. I was taught by my parents to always ask for a bag following a purchase. Just last week, I purchased a sandwich at a deli. When I asked for a bag, the sales person gave me one and then asked for fifty cents, the cost for the bag. I violated my parent’s teachings and left the store without a bag. I would never have done so, back in the day, but the fifty cents charge changed what I once did.

My column on skin color annoyed some readers. That displeasure was expressed in telephone calls, text messages and emails. I recognize that some may not want to return to an era when, “If you are white, you are alright; brown you can stick around; yellow you are mellow; but if Black you must get back.” My resurrecting the behavior of Greek letter and social organizations, church memberships, college admissions and dating prohibitions were just too painful for many of you. I hope that I appeased some when I pointed out that James Brown made being Black and proud a good thing; making the paper bag test for college admission a thing left, back in the day.

If you that did not grow up back in the day, you might have been intrigued by my column on the black book. Today, people store all of their contact information and appointments on their mobile telephone; for many, a black book was foreign to them. Our younger readers were also unaware of the role that telephone exchanges played in dating in the past. You “old heads” will remember the days when a young lady gave you her telephone number. If it was Germantown (GE), Victor (VI) or Sherwood (SH) then she was a viable prospect; Popular (PO), Stevenson (ST) and Baldwin (BA) often resulted in throwing away the number as you dared not travel into these neighborhoods. The column on Kilroy was Here and the Bogeyman were fun to write and also received considerable comments But, by far, the column from 2021 that received the most attention was a focus on Historically Black Colleges and Universities that have been receiving considerable attention in the past year.

My good friend, with whom I worked at Reverend Leon Sullivan’s Opportunities Industrialization Center, Incorporated in the late 60s, shared his thoughts on this column. Some of what Dr. Bernard Anderson, or Bernie as he is known to me, appears below.

Lonnie,

Your February 7 column on HBCUs is a priceless journalistic treat for Black history month. The election of Kamala Harris and Raphael Warnock has thrust HBCUs into the limelight, drawing attention to the Divine Nine and other features of Black life that were largely unknown to most folks outside the Black community.

I’m in my 14th year on the Tuskegee board of trustees, during which I was first Vice Chairman for 5 years. I‘ve served on HBCU governing boards for 30 years, including service as Chairman of the Lincoln University board of trustees, and a decade on the board of my alma mater, the church related liberal arts, UNCF institution, Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C. I can attest to the great contribution HBCUs have made to the advancement of Black people in America, and to the advancement of the nation as a whole.

Speaking personally, when anyone asks, I always brag that Livingstone College was the foundation for my academic career, which led to the Ph.D. in economics at Penn, followed by a long-term faculty position, tenure, and a national reputation at the nation’s leading business school, the Wharton School. It all began at Livingstone College.

As we move into 2022, I trust that my sharing a glimpse of life, by travels back through 2021 columns, will encourage you to continue to track my Sunday visits to life as it used to be, back in the day.