Hulu has announced plans to release a Freaknik documentary and it has folks shook!
“Freaknik: The Wildest Story Ever Told” will “recount the rise and fall of a small HBCU picnic that exploded into an influential street party and spotlighted ATL as a major cultural stage.”
Hulu asks, “Can the magic of Freaknik be brought back 40 years later?”
Executive producers include showrunner Geraldine L. Porras and director P Frank Williams, as well as Jermaine Dupri, and Luther Campbell.
Peter Bittenbender, Melissa Cooper for Mass Appeal, Eric Tomosunas for Swirl Films, Terry Ross, and Alex Avant also serve as EPs.
Nikki Byles and Jay Allen are producers.
The news of the Freaknik documentary has had the streets of social media buzzing for days as people share their excitement and others share their anxieties over possibly being captured in the documentary footage.
I’ve attended Atlanta’s “Wildest Party” twice and trust me when I say it’s an experience you’ll never forget.
The event, also known as Black College Spring Break began back in 1983, but at its peak, Freaknik evolved into one of the biggest freakazoid weekends of the year!
Nearly 250,000 folks from all over the United States, some who never stepped foot into a college, would descend upon the city looking for parties, a good time, and the freaks!
Fly girls, players, dope rides with booming systems, and camcorders filled the streets of Atlanta, and trust me when I say traffic was a nightmare straight from the pits of hell.
Many of the women were sexually liberated and waved their freak flags high and the fellas were all about it!
Unfortunately, as Freaknik progressed over the years a darker side emerged in 1995 when crime began to spike all over the city.
Women were being sexually assaulted, there was looting, robberies, and shootings.
Residents began to complain about the noise, gridlocked traffic, and dancing in the streets.
Eventually, then-Mayor Bill Campbell’s staff made the big decision to pull the plug on Freaknik.
Associated Press reported that the Atlanta Committee for Black College Spring Break should no longer have Freaknik.
Committee chairman George Hawthorne explained:
We cannot support events that bring lewd activities, sexual assaults, violence against women and public safety concerns—firetrucks not being able to reach victims, and ambulances not being able to reach hospitals in a timely manner.
Thankfully, I made it out unscathed.
Twitter is buzzing as people react to Hulu’s forthcoming documentary.
Get into a few tweets below.
Did you ever attend Freaknik? Are you looking forward to checking out the forthcoming Hulu documentary?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or join the convo on our socials. (Facebook, Instagram)
Source: Variety
