Today, 108 years ago, my fraternity - Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. - was founded at Cornell University as the first inter-collegiate Greek-lettered fraternity for black men. (Side note: For those who think it was racist for black men to charter a fraternity for black men, please know that one of the main reasons that the young men founded the organization was because many of the white students at the Ivy League university refused to even let black students into their buildings much less their social organizations. In fact, most historically black institutions - from universities to professional organizations - began in response to blacks being excluded from mainstream organizations NOT for the purpose of excluding non-black individuals.) From its earliest days, Alpha Phi Alphas motto has been First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All. When I think of some of the initiatives launched in the fraternitys earliest years, such as voter registration drives for blacks recently given the right to vote and efforts to increase high school and college graduation rates for black youth, it is distressing that we are still addressing many of the same issues more than a century later - and even new ones. For those who solely define Greek Life as a subculture overtaken by immorality or relationships that end at graduation, please visit Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternitys Facebook page to see the issues the fraternity is addressing just this week alone. **** The Atlantic published an insightful piece this past summer about why so many people in dominant cultures remain unaware of the harsh realities that some people in this country face on a daily basis. In short, we are ignorant because we do life in different worlds. But as W.E.B. Du Bois, an esteemed member of Alpha Phi Alpha, once said, there is a price to be paid for that ignorance - and the generations that come after us, regardless of race, will pay most significantly. So today I remind those of you who profess to TRULY love America, freedom is indeed NOT free. “Either America will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States.” ― W.E.B. Du Bois
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:53:26 +0000
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