FOR HISTORIAN, HOMECOMING EVOKES MEMORIES OF HIS MORGAN YEARS
By EDWIN T. JOHNSON
On February 12, 1988, Columbia Pictures released Spike Lee’ s second feature film, School Daze. I saw the film on a date with my high school sweetheart at the Rivertown Movie Theater in Oxon Hill, Md.
Lee’ s fictional school, Mission College, sent a million thoughts racing through my mind about my upcoming departure for college. I was just completing my senior year of high school. My grades were decent, and my SAT scores were high enough to generate interest from several in-state schools.
However, it was my extracurricular activities that elevated my recruitment profile. I had been president of my freshmen, sophomore and junior high school classes. I was also elected student member of the Prince George’ s County Board of Education.
By the time that“ School Daze” hit theaters, I had been accepted by several schools, including Morgan State University. My parents, Eugene and Lorraine Johnson, had been college sweethearts at Dillard University, a Black school in New Orleans. While there, mom pledged Alpha Kappa
Alpha and dad pledged Omega Psi Phi.
In fact, my family had strong ties to Black higher education institutions. My Godmother had pledged my mother at Dillard. My next-door neighbor was one of the first PhDs that I knew, and he was my dad’ s line brother
Dr. Clayton Stansbury Jr., and Dr. Edwin T. Johnson
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