Good morning everyone as you can see we have uh a beautiful collection here today of the divine nine represented black fraternities and sororities um this is an important day it’s obviously Valentine’s Day and we’re spreading the love here across the divine nine it’s also Black History Month uh and we are celebrating
Um the historic and life-giving relationships and Brotherhood and Sisterhood that have come from black fraternities and sororities for over a hundred years the theme of Black History Month is resistance and as I said downstairs every one of these organizations has resisted oppression has resisted discrimination has resisted racism has
Resisted exclusion and thrived in the midst of a hostile environment from the first Alpha Phi Alpha at 1906 on the campus of Cornell University all the way through all of the divine nine they stepped up to make sure that we had organizations in safe spaces to learn to
Be supported to be loved and you see the representative today we are unique in Montgomery County and that we have over 14 chapters of all of our divine nine organizations here in Montgomery County some states can’t even boast that and they are active we just had a presentation downstairs where all of the
Leaders spoke and talked about all the work that has been going on in Montgomery County on behalf of so many because of these organizations so we’re so excited and I want to thank my uh my colleague council member sales uh who is going to speak now for helping organize this and
Her staff did the Lion’s Share of the work I want to give them a shout out for that um and we are obviously members of these organizations we stand on the shoulders of all these great people behind us and thank you for that councilmember sales foreign thank you council member jawando and I
Just want to thank all nine divine nine chapters for coming here and celebrating Black History Month with us and sharing the incredible contributions they’ve made to our County especially our youngest residents over a hundred years of um tradition and service Sisterhood and Brotherhood are gathered here today and
We’re just grateful that our colleagues could join us in this effort and so without further Ado we’re going to read this Proclamation jointly and okay okay yeah okay yes we got it timed out so we got to make sure we do it right you’ll see in a second why
Whereas the divine nine nine of the oldest black greek-led organizations comprise over 100 Years of tradition serve an integral role in the black community Inspire community and Civic engagement around the world and whereas on May 10 1930 the National panhellenic Council was established during a time when black Americans face
Significant racial Prejudice and were not afforded the same opportunities as their white counterparts and the National panhellenic Council of Montgomery County is here thank you tana and your your team consists of 14 Affiliated Charter Alum chapters from the divine nine black Greek letter of fraternities and sororities and whereas the
Defense of alpha by Alpha fraternity Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Omega Sci-Fi fraternity Delta Sigma Theta sorority Phi Beta Sigma fraternity Zeta Phi Beta sorority Sigma gamma rho sorority and Iota Phi Theta fraternity and that deserves a round of applause they’re just getting through that
Whereas members of the divine nine were heavily involved in the black lives matter movement civil rights movement and women’s suffrage movements as well as the mobilization to uphold Roe v Wade as a result of recent Supreme Court decisions and whereas Delta Sigma Theta was the only black sorority to participate in the
Women’s suffrage march on March 3rd 1913 less than two months after its founding which blazed the trail for black women in politics and whereas Alpha Phi Alpha was the first Intercollegiate Greek letter fraternity organization established for African Americans and it was founded on December 4th 1906 by seven college men who
Recognized the need for a strong bond of Brotherhood among African descendants in this country and whereas the divine nine creates safe spaces for young black adults to excel in higher education and unites black communities with service and professional opportunities they deserve to be honored during Black History Month
For their legacy of Excellence now therefore be it resolved at the County Council of Montgomery County Maryland hereby recognizes the substantial contributions of the divine nine as an important pillar in Montgomery County presented on this 14th day of February in the year 2023 by council president Evan glass council member William opium
Jawando and council member Lori Ann sales thank you okay uh we are going to take a picture but oh and the council I’m sorry yes our colleagues are probably gonna they can probably stand as opposed to unless you want to try to get into this but I think probably staying behind us
Um and and before you leave we have proclamations for every organization so please grab yours if you didn’t get one
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