‘The language was revolution,’ Black Student Union Elder Lawrence Fortenberry recalls time at Long Beach State

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‘The language was revolution,’ Black Student Union Elder Lawrence Fortenberry recalls time at Long Beach State

It is 1956 in Chicago and 9-year-old Lawrence Fortenberry is at his grandfather’s feet. In one hand is his grandfather’s large leather-bound dictionary used to write weekly sermons, and in the other is a pencil Fortenberry used to scribble on its pages.  “My mother had a fit,” Fortenberry said. “She said, ‘Daddy needs that for work.’ And my grandfather said, ‘Leave the boy. Maybe he’s going to be a writer one day.’” At 77 years old, Fortenberry …