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I don’t think I ever told the story (on here) about how Mike Martin Sr settled a dispute involving my dad and some kids in the early 70’s Don’t let me forget this. Im gonna get the details from Pops again and share (don’t wanna misrepresent by trying to recall off hand).
Ok I finally remembered to ask my pops about this. His first day of Middle School (Cobb Middle School) was the first day he and a lot of the other kids had ever been in an integrated school or classroom. Sort of a big deal for the mid-60’s, as you can imagine.
So, first period of the day. My dad is in class, and this white kid sitting behind him called him a nigger (shocking turn, I know). My dad turns around and hits the kid, and the kid tells him he’ll be getting his brother to link up with him later for payback.
Well, it’s Tallahassee. Ain’t but so big. My pops isn’t the only person in his family at the school either. So the white kid goes to get his big brother. Pops goes to get his big cousin. The four of them meet up in the hall and are ready to make something shake.
But before it gets to that, the P.E Teacher, Mike Martin Sr. steps in and shuts it down (temporarily). He calls them all knuckleheads and says something basically like “if you wanna be badasses about it, let’s go to the gym and get in the ring”. So they did. Big cuz and big bro.
Coach Martin officiates this boxing match. They go at it. And there’s debate over who won, because you know how storytelling goes lol. But ultimately, all four of them ended up being good friends through middle and high school. My dad and I went to the big brother’s funeral.
And their family came to my great grandma’s funeral. Random southern small town anecdote with a fuzzy ending. But it was good ole 11 who brought some structure to a school fight
