general larry platt

“Lookin’ like a fool with your pants on the ground!”

If you’re not walking around singing it, you probably will be soon.  That’s part of the chorus to “Pants on the Ground,” an original song performed by General Larry Platt on Wednesday’s American Idol auditions from Atlanta.

Platt, 62, was a little too old to make it through to Hollywood, but his catchy number sure did get the judges talking.  It’s already becoming an internet sensation too.  This guy must have some “people” working for him, because there is already an official website.

Turns out, Platt is a longtime civil rights activist.  You’ll be surprised to know that the Georgia General Assembly has even passed House Resolution 286 proclaiming September 4, 2001 “Larry Platt Day“.

In fact, if you go to the official Civil Rights Movement website and take a look at the picture on the homepage, you’ll notice a young man on the left looking directly into the camera.  That’s General Larry Platt at age 16.

“We had come by bus in 1963 to a church in Savannah, Georgia to plan a march to desegregate the city,” Platt says. “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.”

Platt worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Georgia, organizing sit-ins in the South.

He was beaten during the Bloody Sunday march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery.

The Rev. Hosea Williams gave him his nickname of “General” because of his heroic efforts on behalf of the civil-rights movement.

You can check out the General’s “Pants on the Ground” video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvCQsVcHN7c

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