In the 1980s Freaknic was the “Black” spring break. The first Freaknic started in 1983 and was reportedly conceived on Spelman’s campus. 

It started out as a small picnic but by the time 1990 rolled around the event was a full-fledged festival that took over Atlanta. 

Now there is a podcast that puts the event into perspective. “Freaknik: A Discourse on a Paradise” is hosted by filmmaker and producer Christopher Frierson and is an eight-episode series is “about the multi-year event, its history and how Atlanta’s history, culture and politics created the environment for Freaknik and, ultimately, the mythology of Atlanta that existed then and continues now,” wrote Panama Jackson in “Very Smart Brothas” for The Root.

Jackson recently reviewed the new podcast. He wrote: “This podcast gives probably the most thorough case for it being started by the AUC’s D.C. Metro Club (students from Washington, D.C., and its suburbs in school in the AUC), but waaaaaay earlier than most reports. This podcast has it starting somewhere near the early ’80s as part of the club’s annual social calendar…Which gives a glimpse into how much things have changed by the time it went from a college spring break to a regional and then national phenomenon of Black folks descending upon Atlanta.”

Jackson listened to the podcast with a critical ear and had some complaints. 

He wrote: “While I am enjoying the podcast and will continue to listen and think that you should too because Freaknik was young Blackness taking over a city and creating the best party ever, I’m a stickler for details and when you fuck up details it almost turns me off. For instance, an early commentator mentions that both Morehouse College and Spelman College started in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta. This is inaccurate, and easily searchable…That irked me.”

There were a few other inaccuracies Jackson pointed out. Still, he felt the podcast had merits. 

Jackson concluded: “The podcast is worth checking out for Black historical and anecdotal purposes and because Atlanta in the ’90s might have been the best place for Black people in America. And because Freaknik created the myth of Atlanta that persists today and that is furthered by reality shows set in the city and by the music that floods out of its streets. Check it out, learn something.”