By 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 has an expansive portfolio of writing featured in publications including the Los Angeles Sentinel, Muhammad Speaks and the Wave local newspapers.
While that early memory of his grandfather planted the seed of a writer’s life, it is his time at Long Beach State that allowed the dream to grow.
Fortenberry’s first experience at The Beach was in the late 1960s when he enrolled as an Educational Opportunity Program student at the age of 23.
Older than the other students, and with a wife and child, Fortenberry was unsure of what he wanted to pursue.
“At that time, I knew I wanted an education. But I didn’t know what direction to go in,” he said. “Someone gave me advice to wait until junior year. Get through the basics, then determine what you want to major in.”
Fortenberry credits his introduction to journalism to a language arts class where the instructor assigned him to write about the Black Student Union, which was about five years old at the time.
Impressed by his writing, she directed him to the journalism department where he met Ben Cunningham, the former chairman of the department.
“He was impressed with my writing and my wife and I left that meeting with him with an armload of books,” Fortenberry said. “I had found my passion.”
Lawrence Fortenberry with present-day Long Beach Current Content Advisor Barbara Kingsley-Wilson during the 75th Anniversary Celebration on Feb. 21 at the Nugget. Photo Credit: Samuel Chacko
Despite praise from his instructors, Fortenberry describes being unsure about his writing until being published in a journal called Black Scholars at the suggestion of a professor.
“One of our assignments was to write a paper. I wrote about the first Black newspaper called Freedom’s Journal. The professor was impressed with it and he said you ought to publish this,” Fortenberry said.
That experience gave Fortenberry the confidence and the clippings he needed to pursue jobs in writing.
Fortenberry continued to focus on the BSU, of which he was a member, and Black studies, which he minored in along with his major in journalism.
An adolescence spent reading literary greats James Baldwin, Alex Haley and Malcolm X had inspired “radicalization” in Fortenberry, which he also found in BSU members.
“I said, these are my brothers and sisters, they’re talking the same language,” Fortenberry said. “The language was revolution. If you weren’t talking revolution, we weren’t talking to you.”
According to Fortenberry, it was the work of the early members at Long Beach State’s BSU that paved the way for students like him, fighting for the creation of a Black studies department and opportunities for Black students.
“The BSU had toiled the soil. They were very militant in their early days and had taken over the admin building, stormed into the senate meetings. By the time I came around, people were open to having Black talent,” he said.
Growing up in Los Angeles and graduating from Johnson Freemont High School in 1965, Fortenberry, along with his best friend and “reading soulmate” Melvin X, were witness to what he now knows were turbulent times.
“I look back on my life now and I see that I was in the middle of a lot of stuff,” Fortenberry said. “We were just doing our thing. We were unaware this would have a lasting impact on us and the city and community for years, decades. We just didn’t have any idea.”
Now fully retired from his career with the City of Long Beach Section 8 housing program, Fortenberry has allowed his focus to turn back to writing, contributing pieces to local shows and exhibits. He can also be found on the occasional visit back to campus, admiring the new buildings and green spaces.
Fortenberry hopes to continue writing, working towards the goal of writing about his reading companion Melvin X, co-founder of the BSU at UCLA, and murdered on June 6, 1970.
“I want to write about my friend,” Fortenberry said. “I want to say something about my people.”
