General Larry Platt: Our Anti-Saggy Pants and Civil Rights Hero

Article written by: Andre Sanchez
Posted on: January 27, 2010

‘Tis the season for 15 minutes of fame! Still on top of the ratings is American Idol, and for good reason: The auditions are clearly the most entertaining part of the show. Today’s 15 minute star for the next couple of weeks is Larry Platt, who has performances on ABC’s “The View”, T-shirts, Brett Favre celebrating to the song, and twitter ablaze with all the hype surrounding “pants on the ground,” basically a song telling the younger generation to “pull their pants up”. Platt is definitely the hippest traditionalist when it comes to fashion!

Somewhere Bill Cosby is kicking himself that he didn’t think of that!

The General lays down the law. Stop the sagging!

Even After Simon correctly predicted that the song would be a hit, I didn’t really believe it until my Facebook page started crawling with “pants on the ground” references. Saggy pants have been on the downswing for a while, but looks like Mr. Platt has put the final nail in their sagging coffin.

I think the producers were strategic in allowing 62 year old Larry Platt to even audition when 28 is the cutoff age to be on American Idol. General Larry Platt has had a deep history in the US civil rights movement.  He was beaten during the Bloody Sunday march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery. He got his nickname, “General,” from the Rev. Hosea Williams because of his heroic efforts on behalf of the civil-rights movement. He has worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Georgia, organizing sit-ins in the South.

Says Platt on the experience: “We had come by bus in 1963 to a church in Savannah, Georgia to plan a march to desegregate the city. Reverend Hosea Williams and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were our leaders. That particular planned march was canceled and we were singing to raise our spirits before returning home.”

Take a look at this photo. See the young man on the left, looking directly into the camera? That’s Larry Platt at age 16.

The Georgia General Assembly proclaimed Sept. 4, 2001, Larry Platt Day in Atlanta, claiming “his great energy and commitment to equality and the protection of the innocent and for his outstanding service to the Atlanta community and the citizens of Georgia.” He even now remains a community activist in the Atlanta and recently has become known for publicly protesting foreclosures.

And on top of that, people are making T-shirts left and right of this guy!

One of the T-shirt designs for General Platt

I bet this song will make a lot of people probably pull their pants up, in fear of someone singing it out loud and putting them on blast! So Sir Platt, we at SoJones salute your song, and we hope that our young readers can pull those pants up! (At least when the elderly folks are around ;) )

And for a good laugh, here’s the audition if you didn’t catch it:

Reader, do you think General Platt’s message will reach the pant-saggers of America, or will it fall on deaf ears? Do you think the General’s 15 minutes of fame are up? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments!