Thank you Hello and welcome to the authentic Joe show I am Jolena Johnson your host and it’s called authentic Joe because Joe is my first name and Joe means life and Lena means love so I want to welcome you to the show tonight I’m so excited my production team said oh Jolena you have
To do something that’s a little bit more lively and not so serious and I said well you know I’m pretty serious and they’re like I know but you know how to have fun so tonight um I wanted to talk about something that was near and dear to my heart and the
Title of tonight’s show is who’s the best fraternity and so for those of you who may or may not have gone to college who may or may not be familiar with black Greek life um some people say what does black Greek mean and isn’t that a contradiction and
Then other people may say well back in the day some people may have been relevant but what are they doing now and then other people may say well if they didn’t really pledge like we did then they’re not really part of our fraternity so um you know there’s some
Controversy but there’s also some fun and so I’ve invited some of my favorite people to come on and share and if you’re watching this on Facebook or you’re watching it on YouTube I welcome you and ask you to share it with your people just go ahead and hit the share
Button and if you’d like to pop in and join us you can as well I put the stream yard Link in the YouTube uh link as well as in the Facebook link so if you want to come on and you want to talk about what we’re doing today please do so and
Of course please like And subscribe and again welcome to the show so without further Ado you may notice that I am in red and white there is not a doubt in my mind who the best sorority is so I’m wearing red and white however tonight’s show is about who’s the best fraternity so
Could you let our guests in please produce her let’s see who’s who’s joined us oh Julia Julius from Omega sci-fi okay okay Ian doesn’t say who he is with Ian with the beard all right yeah absolutely absolutely [Laughter] people in it one time uh oh we got more people in the studio producer
Ah there we go Oh I’m so excited okay so so you all just understand the viewers these guys did not know who I asked to be on the show they’re smiling because they’re pretty pleased that they’re here and so I have one more surprise who’s in the audience one more surprise and and he’s gonna tip
The scales because we have another member of the organization in here thank you for jumping in the video Steve Garvey Big Brother so yeah [Applause] this is something else this is something else well first of all I want to say thank you because except for one person who will make remain nameless everybody
Wrote right back to me and said yes I’ll do it and then and then uh then he came back and said oh yeah I’ll do it I forgot about your message anyway no I I just know let me let me tell you all my first um fraternity
Story at Mizzou we all went to the University of Missouri Columbia um I graduated in December of 92 and these fellas were there during that time some before during after and um so I was on campus trying to call my just broke up boyfriend at the time
He was a freshman and he went to Central Missouri State and I was in uh Colombia and right before he left for school he broke up with me he’s like we can’t we can’t date while we’re in college so my heart was broken
So I was on the pay phone and I tried to call him and he didn’t have a phone in his dorm so I’m waiting and then this guy says hey Denise and I turn around and he said oh you’re not Denise well I’m Mark French and I said hi Mark I’m
Jolena and he said well it’s nice to meet you and then he left and he went up the elevator and I’m still holding on for this boy who’s not coming to the phone and then he comes down with this guy and he introduces me to the guy and he says
Jolena this is Michael my fraternity brother and I say hi Michael and then he says hi Jolena so then a few days later I’m in my dorm room minding my own clean color business with some of my girlfriends in our room is our room doors open school hasn’t started so
Michael comes by he was passing by he came back and said hi jolita and I said did he have an African accent when he hit it hi and all of my friends were like who’s that and then he said this is my line brother Orlando shout out to Orlando and
Then hi to Orlando and that was my first introduction to Greek life at Brazil and then as the time went um Julius ended up pledging Steve was already Greek Larry ended up pledging I think Ian pledged when I was there too so it has just been an amazing time and
Then of course I did pledge so um a couple of different things we’re not going to do a show about who’s the best sorority we’re not going to do that but tonight you all do get a chance to talk about um why you joined the fraternity what fraternity life has done for you
Um the differences made in your life and there’s a lot of people who say you know what’s going on with black Greeks I mean what what does it matter what does it mean so I’m gonna give deference to Michael only because Alpha Phi Alpha was the first black fraternity and let him
Talk a little bit and then we’ll go from there so Michael so tell us why you chose Alpha Phi Alpha and just tell us that part first hey Julina thank you thank you very much uh but I gotta say before I even do that it’s it’s a real pleasure being on with
These with these guys I haven’t seen some of these guys damn uh probably over 20 years uh so it’s just really good seeing all these guys I I was around when everybody pledged I think Steve and I pledge at the exact same time I probably crossed maybe like
The weekend before uh they did but it’s just great to uh to be in our mid 50s and see all these guys just doing amazing things so um when I got to Mizzou um I didn’t know anything about about Greek organizations at all and in my
Freshman year Orlando and I went to a party it was an all-greek party and uh I saw everybody dancing and going around the floor and being a Freshman just coming in from Liberia I assumed that this was the way American Kids partied so I wasn’t going
To risk trying to walk across the floor to ask somebody to dance and risk being told no so I figured I’ll just do what everybody is doing so I jumped in the line and every line some of y’all never knew this story but every line that was going around the floor I followed
Everybody so everything they were doing any noise they were making whatever I was doing it and you know God protects fools because nobody nobody said a word to me and I had a good time so I get home that the the next day I’m talking my mother who
Who was American and she asked me what I did the last night I told her and there’s silence on the phone and finally she said baby don’t do that again he said those are Greeks and then she explained to me that she was a Delta explained the whole the whole you know
Whole thing to me and I told her that as I was leaving the party there was an announcement that said that Sunday there was going to be a some called All Greek rush so my mom encouraged me to go um I went uh and I was just I was just blown away
Uh and so from that experience I started just doing my own research uh Orlando and myself and a few other guys we started going to the library and just doing our own research and and that’s really how I I decided uh and the brothers at Mizzou actually rejected me
My uh my first time uh around the second time around I wrote those Foods a three-page double-spaced letter like no y’all don’t pledge me and so that’s that’s how I got in but I end with again it’s good to see you guys uh Ian I follow you on on LinkedIn I see
All the great stuff you’re doing in the education space uh Julius I follow you as well you and your wife Steve is damn good to see you man it really is good to see you it’s been too long Larry’s great to see you man it’s it’s been too long
That’s all I gotta say it’s just good to see these brothers thank you that was a great story I didn’t you were rejected the first time so I’m glad to hear that three-page letter work back then I don’t know I’m gonna work now but it is I don’t know who’s this
Who’s this Greek fraternity to be established who would that be after Alpha Phi Alpha well um if if you’re talking about who actually was founded first at Mizzou then that reshuffles the order house and never if we’re talking nationally then then would it be Kappa Alpha Psi next yeah it would because
Omegas are my 1911 Brothers but they’re just a few months after us I can’t tell us why did you decide to choose Kappa Alpha Psi and when did you and when did you go over yeah first I do want to just salute my brothers especially at a time when uh black male
Life is at a premium and so dispensable uh is definitely good to see you all as time has evolved uh so you know just grateful to be in your space first likewise yeah it’s real that’s real so so for me it was it was it was family
You know I come from a family of um college graduates and the men in my family were kappas and so that’s how the foundation was first laid uh I think that um that was what I knew and then when I came in uh so so I pledged in Fall 88 so
That was my first sophomore semester um and so it was four of us uh myself Michael Walton Todd Brown and Lawrence Bowen and so uh so it was really it was really you know it was really a family thing and then when I got up there uh uh that
Was just some cool dudes who were kappa’s uh Maurice Adair uh was my guy um uh Larry Saunders uh fresh air yeah uh uh John I forgot uh John’s name but John King John King yes John King and so those guys were up there and so
It was just really just wanted to be part of the family Legacy and then I think it was just something that I had a commonality and a share kind of kinship with those guys and so that really was it um but you know as you get older I think
You reflect on things a little differently and I think you know just understanding the importance of Brotherhood period I think it’s just so important and then just understanding some of the leadership that you were able to develop as a result of being involved in you know in these kinds of
Orcs that’s wonderful that’s a great answer and thank you so family and community and influence those are good key keywords okay so for those of us who are who may or may not be familiar with black Greek life we are talking about um fraternities and we have representatives from each fraternity and
Each one happens to be um from University of Missouri Columbia we all went to college together and these guys had no idea they were going to appear on the show they just answered the call and here they are so the next fraternity would be Omega sci-fi and we
Do have two representatives from the organization on so I’m going to ask Steve since he went for it first to tell us why he joined and then Julius I’m gonna ask you a different question if that’s okay my big brother right all right you’re dating me Julius
Thanks for having me on uh Jolene I appreciate it it’s good seeing all you Brothers out there man uh gosh we have countless memories together even though we all are in different organizations aside from Julius me and being frat but the life of Mizzou man I I wouldn’t
Change a thing it was just incredible yeah uh and uh Ian real quick when you know talking about some of those other brothers uh you know we used to hang with everybody you know we we we just we’re always friends first and uh all those dudes were good dudes I
Remember uh Ken who was the alpha um and I came across Ken somewhere long ago but um it’s just good to see people still stay connected so um as for me personally um I didn’t well I didn’t find out later until I actually had members of my family actually part of my group-led
Organization so I found out I had older cousins I come from a family of my my mother has 12 brothers and sisters so we very large family and I was one of the younger first cousins so I had a slew of older first cousins I mean my brother’s
Nine years older than me who actually is a captain but he didn’t pledge to many years after me uh but I had cousins that were Alphas I found out that my dad’s father um whom I did not know was a member 58 Sigma uh so for me personally my parents
Had lots of friends who were capitals and cues and such uh in their Social Circle those were people that I just actually saw a lot be it that they were in the police force or teachers and such like that so life goes on you move forward and you
Find yourself in a situation in college and you’re you start meeting people on campus and at the time some of the people that I met I knew some people that were cappers I knew some people that were cues and my line brother my Ace Melvin Ballinger my boy
Um I remember one day we were we were in our dorm room we were freshmen we were talking about you know a pledge and so on and so forth and it’s funny y’all know who Daryl Wallace is and uh I used to cut Daryl’s hair
And me and Mel we were in there you know hooting and hollering and everything you know practicing our steps for when that day came Daryl’s outside knocking on the door so you know all of a sudden it was like you know straightened up and fly right because last thing you wanted to know
The last thing you wanted to do was get caught you know doing something and then they know you uh want to pledge and you know we know how that possibly could turn off but yeah lo and behold uh I think it was my second year my so
My freshman year I was fall 87. that’s when we pledged and uh you know great experience I wish I could change my grades back then but you know it was all all part of the learning curve and so for me it’s just a great experience I love the
Brothers had a chance to go back for our 50th uh year reunion back in April that was fantastic your chapter reunion at Mizzou yeah yeah I saw Julius I hadn’t seen Julius a long time met a lot of brothers that I you know had always
Heard about never met so it was a great experience so I love the brothers okay thank you Steve I appreciate that and um for those of you who may or may not know because you don’t know me necessarily when I graduated from Mizzou I actually
Went out to LA to visit and Steve had moved there and Chris had moved there and then they were like you should move here and I did but there’s a whole bunch of other people move so um leading up to julius’s question um I want to say that some of us have a
Rich tradition of Greek in our lives and for me personally um the man who raised me um is an Omega and he is getting ready to celebrate his 60th anniversary I think this year and um my aunt actually which I didn’t know until later she’s an AKA but that
Organization wasn’t for me and um Julius and I were we actually met um before College because we were in a program called inroads and so yeah yes and so yes that’s true Ian was in it too but you and I were in the same class and um Julius ended up marrying my line
Sister and so um before I wanted to be a double when I wanted to be a doctor I talked to my dad and I said well Dad can you help me with some dollars because it costs money to pledge right and back then it was a lot now it’s really a lot
And so then he said well Joe being a member of a black Greek organization is a lifetime commitment and I said okay Dad are you gonna give me some money he did give me a small check but I take his words to heart and some of us continue with Greek life
Um unlike white sororities who often stop in undergrad sororities of attorneys they stop at undergrad our organizations continue and we have alumni or alumni chapters however you pronounce it and so um I know that Julius and I share a rich history because our fathers uh were fraternity
Brothers together so I would like to give you a chance to um tell us what Legacy means um in terms of your choice in being an Omega Julius that’s your question there was no choice uh quite honestly I was uh I was kind of born into this by association just uh
Everybody around me my father pledged at Lincoln University Ada Sig and was part of osig in St Louis why a chapter I met a lot of omegas as I was growing up but my perspective was skewed I knew a lot of professional omegas who were attorneys colonels captains in the
Military and very all of these professional black men who were getting things done and then I went to Mizzou and I saw my first Omega party for real and I was like wait a minute these are cute dogs it was a little bit skew when I came to
Mizzou but it was always already there it was already written um and I’m gonna defer I’m gonna actually go back to something that was said earlier and I’m gonna ask everybody on here to reflect on this uh I would change the years at Mizzou because there were some very ugly things happening on
That campus that we had to deal with contend with fight with that we shouldn’t have had to deal with as college students and I could imagine and I don’t even want to imagine what it would have been like if Greek life wasn’t there to support us lead us
And I could think of every single organization on that campus that provided leadership to the black students on that campus yeah yeah a Greek member was leading every single one that’s right yeah and right behind him was another Greek member and behind that person was another Greek member so
That I think that says something about what this organization is doing to lead the people on the campus and and bring that leadership to the Forefront and put it in place where it can actually be used to help the student body so why did I pledge well like Beyond being
Legacy and beyond my father being uh being an Omega and me having a different perspective on the organization than most um I did take some time to reflect you know and look across and and to me they’re what there really was no place else that I felt was right for me
As an individual it called to me in ways that I can’t explain and even to this day I’ll tell you pledging changed me and made me a better person right wrong or indifferent everything that happened good bad or whatever on the other end of the equation I was a
Better person than I was when I started I learned a lot about myself what my limits were and also what it meant to really really take care of one another and that type of Love That Transcendent love and that Brotherhood that we talk about and I think it’s one of the reasons is
It’s not just black Greek organizations but all black organizations have an issue retaining members and growing over the years but the Greek organizations there’s a certain level of connectedness there’s a certain Affinity there’s a certain love a sense of Duty that it transcends a lot of that and I could
Probably tell you that there’s a higher level of at least commitment from those members I know I am still a member an active member right now and I’m still reaching back to make sure I do what we need to do in terms of uplift and you
Know I I’m able to say that I’m starting to understand and see it’s kind of you live long enough you start to understand a lot of the principles and everything that you the things that you learned coming into the organization very full answer so you have
Okay oh that’s the that’s the bark of Omega sci-fi for those of you who don’t know [Laughter] um Julius is raising three sons with his wife okay so um I love it and Julius I don’t know if you remember you know when we got up there as freshmen
Um Martin Luther King holiday was supposed to be a holiday but they didn’t want to let us out for school and we had to protest about that the king verdict happened when we were in school and we had to protest about that um it was a lot of things going on and
The um overall um black college I mean the college government they had something like I don’t know 26 000 for a budget and we only had 872 or something like that for the black the for the black origin of black Allegiance okay so there was a lot of
Stuff going on Derek preacher says hello all right Derek you can join the live if you want to uh what’s up okay so so I love what you said that you’re bringing in so student life people are getting the idea of what was going on in the 80s
And the 90s with student life and last but not least Larry blue see Williams I would like you to tell us um well first of all I remember when you were pledging because I felt like I was part of the gang a little bit
And um Larry I’d like you to tell us why you chose Phi Beta Sigma and what Brotherhood means to you because I know you have continued to be active in the fraternity and continued to be active in Michigan with young black people and we need to hear from you so please go ahead
Wow um let’s see here I’m uh mad nervous I gotta say you guys made public speaking things smooth uh man come on come on Larry what’s up real talk man let me just break again we know you it’s good to see you brother hey for sure man for sure for sure let’s see
Here this is amazing remember that hey man I’m trying to live life as beautiful as possible no matter what man and congratulations on your wedding your recent wedding to my store War oh oh yeah you know between um every single every between every uh Delta Sigma Theta there’s a sigma
Well leaving it let him keep on talking all right all right all right this is going to be interesting I’m gonna bring this all together kind of fitting sense Sigma is the sum fourth the fourth uh fraternity founded in 1914 so let me just sum all this so
It was um zero clue it was a universal God hand that had me pledge Sigma I had no idea what fraternities were um I came out of Detroit um no family members and pretty much just blessed to go to college and so um my first uh freshman year 8788
I had classes with this uh one kid from California I was from Detroit we was both out of state his name was Sam Sam Mobley so Sam Mobley and I we started seeing that we kept passing each other so we um just kind of connected became friends 87-88
I saw Michael Waterson online pledging I saw Steve online um I remember because Mike it was three of them running around and from Detroit let’s just say it was real different coming to Mizzou as a predominantly black from kindergarten to 12th grade all my life
And then to come to Mizzou and it’s just like oh this is where America really is I’m tripping like the norm I thought was not real and um it was kind of a shock and you’re seeing black people all sit together in the dining hall so I thought you know like
It was still like Jim Crow down south I was like so it was a real culture shock and um the Greek fraternity scene I really didn’t understand it and so me and Sam we were kind of almost like what’s with this hoe you got to be in
Greeks and got to be in the organization and Julius can tell you too Julius was a founding member and we started um we started me five meeting if you did not know because you would have wrecked me oh I’m about to bring it all in got myself
Uh I’m in Persian dining hall and me and Sam and it’s Julius and it’s like 14 of us and we got women we got men we’re like you know forget all the Norms forget all the labels you know it’s about to be each person to uplift each
Person and that’s what me saw me was about and we was like it’s all inclusive all welcome we’re not trying to be exclusive we young 18 19 coming from what I just described you know a little my little pocket of chocolate City so you know I’m trying to like think I’m being
Revolutionary with this me find me idea we in the Persian dining hall we made up our own hand sign so we really imitating the Greeks not knowing it though in our mind we think we’re being different Mia Sam we like me find me in the dining hall
I come out the dining hall next thing I know three ounces approaches and I was like whoa you know and the three outfits came up on us like gang gang I was like oh snap Michael Waterson and two other offers come up on me [Laughter]
It was like they was like yo what you trying to do with that me find me God might just like wasn’t me over here oh my God I’m glad I’m last I’m glad let me go ahead and sum it all up all right and so might come up and I’ll
Step to us and me and Sam like yo bro chill out what’s going on we just know we don’t even know anything about y’all we’re not even copying y’all what what are you talking about but I was trying to play it cool because on the Inside
Man my knees was buckling I was like we about to get our ass I’m sorry [Laughter] oh yeah take me out right quick oh Sam’s a black dumb Taekwondo I’m vice president Taekwondo me me and Julius we up in there doing training we’ve been two
Twice two three times a week we in there kicking people in the butt but I really was just like whoa and so I was like oh that’s it oh yeah here we go there we go okay so Larry tell us about this picture all right so this picture is me and Sam
And this is really the height of me find me and then that’s Rob the gear I was the black guy Rob was the Mexican guy we were the only like people of color in our dorm along with my roommate this African brother from Nigeria so Sam lives in another dorm but like I
Said he was in a couple of classes with me so we call ourselves just being our own little hookup our colors with black and silver so you got the black and silver on and me find me we was going into parties you know doing kind of like dressing
Things I can’t even explain it looking at this picture I’m just like what were we thinking but you know it’s funny and right before I got College you know um school days was out and so school days um that was go uh silver and black one
Of the one of the fraternities oh yeah oh yeah the g5g they probably influenced you you know what’s crazy no real talk we were we were sucker uh Rob is from Sandy from Oakland San Diego and San Diego Oakland and they are Raiders fans I didn’t know that at the time they
Snuck out yes but anyway so I was like after Michael waterson’s uh incident I was like I’m never pledging outfit yeah get him away Mike [Laughter] yeah um and Julius so this is like now 89.90 and we’ve been friends about two years and we about a good year and a half
Strong in this me for me thing and Julius he got the heads up because you know his dad and he’s a legacy and Judas is like yo it’s spring 90. I don’t know all the details but if we go do anything we gonna do it now and I was
Like I’m not even interested I’m me find me all the way what are you talking about but I was kind of open we were all friends so I was like all right let me check out some organizations so I go to the capital smoker Ian is the president
Ian is in there leading the informational meeting and I’m just like and who’ll be like doing all the pretty boy stuff and cool and smooth and really Ian was like a cool brother off rip and so when we was in the smoker and I’m just sitting there getting so like sucking in information
I’m like man this is awesome oh man Ronnie B B ucks oh I’m so glad you got this picture okay look okay so these are guys that’s at The Smokers right and I know Ronnie Ron oh that was like one of my homies when I first a freshman so anyway the brother
That’s behind in the tall brother Melvin Melvin Bullock and Melvin Bullard yo after I go to the smoker and I’m kind of impressed with you know Kappa Alpha Psi and I was like man that’s kind of deep okay I feel the captives like the next day I get a knock on my number
Melvin Melvin’s on the door and he came up on me like yo I need you to fill out this informational card I was like damn brother how you doing wow right now I was like dang man I feel kind of pressed right now oh my gosh he came to your door
I was like hey let me just hold the car yeah and I’ll get back with you man you know and so he was like all right man you better hit you know hit me back I’m like all right I will bet he left I was like okay nope not doing that
Stupid boy you are silly man I went to the Q smoker with Julius and I’m like all right let’s go check this out if I hit the Q smoker again different contrast from what you see on like the surface and the promotion organization from the party step in you know they’re
More business they’re organized they’re coming across you know very like structured and I was I was like man like the capitals I was impressed I was like wow you know this is like Ian said you know seeing black men um present themselves as strong as Leaders
You know it was a rare thing and it was impressive from the guys just stepping around partying yeah so I was like all right you know I was feeling the cute the uh Omega um fational and I was like Julius is my man so I was like okay
This might be you know the move if I do it and then me and my partner Sam along with the uh President and Vice President Taekwondo we were president vice president of the residence hall Association and we was throwing a party at Memorial Union upstairs the same weekend in the sun deck
The sigmas was thrown apart and so as you saw as we was dressed before we would always go to the black Greek organizations go to the parties support all of them so we went downstairs to check out the sigma party now I can tell you residence hall Association is dorm affiliated
I just really did it for the free room and board that was smart I didn’t know that that could be done so that was very smart oh yeah yeah are we all Ras not me yeah guess what you don’t have the responsibility of the RAS [Laughter] you don’t have the responsibility to all
Right I got free room and board and I just have to do a few meetings right come on Larry y’all did do some good things okay keep on with the story we got to keep going here to your point though we me and Sam brought bet to the campus
Uh TV channels but anyway you still feel good about that it didn’t stand up but back then anyway [Laughter] hopefully hopefully they’ll learn something when they listen to go ahead Larry okay so the sum it up um I go to the single party I’m like man or people at the RHA party
Than we do at the signal party I was like man these this is but Victor edit oh God I met Victor and this brother was an impressive brother and so Victor Eddie invited me to come to the informational and Sam was already like down the go
So me and Sam was at the RHA we went down to a single party and Victor came up to our party we chopped it up the informational was at the Black Culture Center what used to be the house and the parking lot yep went to the Black Culture Center and
Unlike the kappas and the queues where it was like you know a classroom or Memorial or a reserve room and it was very structured and very business-like the sigmas was like almost like kicking it with your homies in the house and I saw more stigmas at that Sigma
Smoker than a high priced scene ever the whole time I was at Missouri I was like what is this yeah I didn’t know y’all was this deep and um the next thing I know we left that smoker and Sam said we pledge in Sigma wow and that’s how I became Phi Beta signal
Well we want to say shout out to Victor because Victor was the first stigma I met um I had heard about Victor because he was an Olympian he was actually in the Olympics there was a whole group of African students Nigerian students and they had won all types of awards and he
Was the first one and Dion your your sorority sisters 85 beta um said that’s the picture and I went to talk to him and then the rest is history so anyway that’s the rest that’s all the history we’re gonna talk about all right okay I want to thank all of y’all because all
Of y’all played a part in me becoming Sigma so much love and thank you awesome you know I love it because your perspectives are so different and you all brought different aspects of black male life and influence and things like that and I really love it
Um Julius I was told to ask you um do you remember being the first black Obama I have no idea what that means I wouldn’t I wouldn’t take it that far no but I do um everybody’s Greek in this photo too oh gosh tell us about this picture
This is when uh if I’m correct we’re running for LBC president and this was our slate okay okay I love it wow that was in the Memorial Union if I’m correct now what year oh oh I want to say we 91 92 okay yeah yeah that’s wonderful okay so you know my producer
Yes and I was the candidate for homecoming King as well boy was your boy was 1988 homecoming King for LBC congratulations oh my gosh and you know that was a rarity because Mizzou is very old and we just don’t have you all if anybody is watching I
Want you to know this is an elite group this is I mean there weren’t many of us um when I got to campus it was less than a thousand black students out of 25 000 students and that included undergrad grad law students medical students everything and so um I actually got
Involved with LBC the Legion of black colleges because Michael took me to a meeting and somehow I I started organizing and Steve you were the Mr LBC the LBC King and we learned that you knew how to play the piano and just all kinds of things so it was really a rich
Experience okay well I love it okay so I can’t even believe we’re almost 45 minutes in so I have another question um can you tell us what being in your organization has meant to you in your life as an as a grown adult male and I
Don’t want you to take too long because I want everybody to get a chance to talk um but you you can choose to go first whoever wants to go first but what has been in this organization I mean Julius kind of already gave us his his um
Interpretation and what it has done for him but would anyone else like to um talk about that what has been in your organization done in terms of you as a man I’ll go first I’ll go really really quick um I think uh I I came to uh Greek life
With a healthy degree of self-confidence anyway just from the way I was raised but being a member of this organization has meant sort of a personal affirmation for me because it’s placed me in circles uh throughout my professional life where I’ve been around other professional and educated men who
Were similarly confident back straight head up and that mirroring opportunity uh if you will has just been a really really good and positive affirmation uh for me so I’d enjoy that throughout my professional life throughout my grown life thank you thank you Michael anyone else I could say
Um just being a member of Omega sci-fi our Cardinal principles manhood scholarship perseverance and uplift you know sometimes you know life is hard we’ve gone through a pandemic we’ve actually dealt with so many things that we didn’t know how we would get to the next day sometimes perseverance personally means something
To me because sometimes when you really are dealing with tough situations and you really feel like maybe there is no way out or what’s around that corner and when you can really find that inner strength strength you did not know you had and to know that when you have people
Rallying behind you that’s just that much more strength that propels you forward and that’s something that I think of constantly those Cardinal principles really you know resonate within me personally and so um I feel very fortunate that you know I’m a member of this organization and
That it taught me something that is very much instilled in so thank you thank you Larry or Ian would you like to say anything and Ian you’re on mute by the way all right um I’ll just chime in right quick um but basically like like Steve said you know the um
The internal fortitude that strengthened personally the networking with um other like-minded Progressive black men um locally nationally and internationally it’s like if we all can share we you have so many experiences where the door is like have led to so many like opportunities beyond what you imagine
Um this is very it’s just very fulfilling um on a lot of levels personally you know like like he was speaking to hopefully mentally and then even uh health and wellness I’ve had a few Brothers Keep Me In Shape push me it’s just all around it’s been very fulfilling very good
And the one thing the one thing I try to encourage people um is to know that it’s a rare opportunity where you can be around like-minded individuals where you guys are creators organizers of programs events and it tests your leadership and it provides that opportunity unlike any other platform really
Yeah thank you yeah I think it I think at this stage in my life I think it’s being there to support each other during those tough times you know a lot of us have uh you know ailing parents or siblings or we’ve gone through personal illnesses and I think being able to know
That you have somebody to lean on especially you know it’s hard for black men sometimes to show that that vulnerable side so I just feel like when you have a bond of Brotherhood that’s a space where you can do that so I feel like that’s one of the advantages
Especially now and especially at our age and I would say everybody here is we’re all over 50 right now yes yes oh my god well everybody looks really good I wouldn’t necessarily know it Julian I would like to jump in there on such a professional piece and the networking piece is exceptionally
Powerful I can point to being extended Fellowship opportunities because I’m an Omega well granted I had the academic background and the experience but it also opened the door the person who hired me into Ford Motor Company happened to be the president of the national black MBA Association
And also happened to be in Omega so there are some things here when I was working in the assembly plant and things didn’t work quite the way I wanted to around me were omegas so I can really say to people who are looking at the organization and only looking at it from
The surface there are some things here that this will open doors for you and afford you opportunities that you might not otherwise be uh able to obtain just because of the Brotherhood and and even beyond that I’ve been able to see you know we talk about we’re
Going to give back and what we’re supposed to do now as an older Omega I’m the person who’s reaching back and doing a little bit more of that pulling and I’m able to help some of these young brothers and I’m also seeing what it means to really be about scholarship and
Supporting young black men going to school as my organization and as I have three boys two of which who’ve had several scholarships which were supported by nothing other than the black Greek organizations both fraternities and sororities and truth of the matter is and you’ll like this
My uh my middle son was part of the Kapolei and some of the things that he was afforded through that organization through that one opportunity were quite amazing so the Kappa League is an organization for is it middle school or high school boys yes it’s a kind of a developmental program for uh
Young boys in high school okay moving on towards college and all of all of the organizations have it right we have the sigma Squires and we have uh what else is it the do the omegas have one still or not really Sigma betas Sigma Sigma betas do have something similar to that but
They are focused more on kids at risk kids who are really falling through the cracks to reach them to bring them back into the fold and let them realize they have a future it wasn’t actually the way that organization was set up here it was looking for specifically challenged kids and that
Not that was not necessarily a good fit for where my boys were gotcha Okay so he doesn’t know I am talking to members of um the black Greek organizations the black fraternities and I do need to acknowledge there is one more black fraternity and it is iotis however I don’t know any
Iotas and so I could not include them today and they were not at mizzou’s campus when I was there I’m told they came later so I am not trying to discriminate against them and I did want to give you all the shout out however that is why they are not represented on
The call today and if you have just joined us this is a group of fraternity men who all went to Mizzou during the 80s in the late 80s and the early 90s and we’ve just been talking about what Greek life means oh there’s a question okay before we get to okay let’s ask
That question which smokers did you all go to before deciding so Larry did tell us where he went did anybody go to any other smokers first I only went to the queues that was it what about you Michael no I I went to I went to the Kappa smoker
Um and I believe I went to the sigma smoker as well okay all right and what made you decide for Alpha it was just did it just seem like the fit for you like like a lot all the guys are saying it was just the one that that spoke to me interestingly um
Um so that lets anyone get the idea that there was this raging exclusivity going on like we’re part of this organization and we don’t mess with nobody else you know that kind of craziness look my freshman year the guy that used to cut my hair for free I’m a I’m a kid from
Africa the guy who used to cut my hair Ian was a volte bell the guys that I used to go to the campus protest with when we’re protesting apartheid in South Africa I was a freshman these were all um sigmas what’s the brother that’s in the state
Legislature in uh in Kansas City now um uh that brother oh James oh yeah all these all these guys these were guys who I met uh as a freshman in Omega there was a brother by I don’t remember his last name Maurice he was a poli-sci
Major or his King what let me tell you something one of the reasons when I switched mine he was a smart dude and start to think about uh going further in political science is because of the way I saw this brother move and that brother wasn’t Omega and he was the
First he was he was you I didn’t I didn’t know Murray’s King was an Omega I never knew that I didn’t knew his name his legacy so so I’m saying all that to say that there was this this thing that happened where we both sort of uh directly and
Indirectly supported one another in ways that were very very necessary on a predominantly white campus with the kind of history that Mizzou had that for a young kid like me and I I imagine for these brothers too was like really really major okay yeah can I can I just
Add something to that real quick Jolena just real quick and can you explain what a smoker is for those who don’t know so yes okay and I can’t explain yeah so you know just kind of like what Mike was talking about you know I really became
An R.A because when I saw Stevie D being all right I was like oh okay yeah cool I can do this you know be and so just in terms of just the influence that we have over each other uh Stevie D was a cool smart brother who had the opportunity to
Lead uh in an environment that wasn’t so friendly even though he had more Brothers than I did in Hudson uh in the door in the dorms yeah but but just uh you know people just to show you that it can be done eating on his floor and he’s
Got the master key yeah yeah no that’s true the president over there yeah but that was uh that was a good role model for me to see somebody else who was doing something that I would eventually you know get a chance to do right so and can
You tell us what a smoker was in oh yes well a smoker is just an opportunity for uh fraternities to Haze kids no I’m just joking you know no a smoker is just an invitation to uh for individuals interested in your organization to just check it out to see
What what your uh values and principles and goals and stuff are and uh to meet other potential candidates so much that was very well said you could so I have two more questions okay so you all everybody doesn’t have to answer each question but I’m gonna tell
You what they are and then you can choose which one I want to know um if you have a young man today in today’s world because this world is so much different than when we were in college you know the Supreme Court is probably getting ready to reverse
Affirmative action of which some of us might not have even made it into Mizzou if it wasn’t for that I don’t know but it’s possible and all the other things that are going on so what would you say to young men who are thinking about
Going to college and why is being in a fraternity important or how could it enhance their lives as young men in 2022 that’s the one question and the second one is who’s the best fraternity all right I’ll jump in uh so back to what I was saying before understanding
That it’s going to open doors that would otherwise be closed um and in order to put your best foot forward and I’m going to say it this way the collective organizations are going to begin before you even arrive on campus yeah if you do not have enough
Money for school apply apply apply apply even if you don’t have the requisite GPA apply even if you don’t have the required number of service hours apply it will open doors and you never know what it may present very good thank you and as Julia said
Earlier there are a lot of black Greek organizations who have scholarship money and they are just looking to give scholarships to young black kids and that is in your local area you can look look them up on the Internet so if you put in any other organizations and look
Them up they usually have something on their page and it’ll say scholarships and our organization is always trying to give away money because we do community service okay who’s next who wants to go I’ll go very quickly listen um Omega sci-fi uh members often say friendship is essential to the soul
Look that is this is what I would say to a young person that is not a slogan and when you find yourself on a college campus and classes are are difficult life is difficult you will learn very quickly as as you grow up that friendship is indeed essential to the
Soul now you don’t necessarily have to become a member of a Greek letter organization but if you do if you do you will recognize that essentiality and it will do something incredibly positive for you so take advantage of every good thing that is out there that’s available for you and black Greek letter
Fraternities are an example of one of those good things so take advantage of it yes absolutely Larry you were going to say something a blue blue hot damn the sigmas are here a blue Blues let’s make this perfectly clear a blue blue it only takes a few of
Us a blue blue so sit back and watch the sigma stuff a blue blue I’m the one they call blue hump a blue blue give me a call to make your podcast jump [Laughter] um that’s just to bring the hypedness you know um I I got two points to answer your question
So the first the first thing I say to your question is I I asked young men how does going to college help you achieve what you want to do in life okay and then the second and then your second Point as to why join the organization
I I guess I’ll repeat it again I say like this it gives you a rare opportunity to be in the boardroom as a Young Man to make executive decisions to create programs and events to affect your constituents or the con or to directly affect your Market your fellow student Market this invaluable experience
So go to college if you actually have a vision of going to college affects your life Direction and join the fraternity to gain that experience to be like a junior executive on creating events programs and whatever you can imagine to create it it opens that doors for you to like test your imagination
I love that thank you so much and I know that the guys are talking about boardrooms and things like that and networking but they’re also talking about Brotherhood and I hope you hear this common theme that each and every one of them influence each other in some
Form or fashion and I really didn’t even know a lot of these stories when I decided to do this podcast I was influenced by one of my story words who was my eighth grade teacher and when I walked in eighth grade and she said um
Look at that name up there it says and I won’t say her name it said her name and she said this is my classroom and you will do exactly what I say and then it had the sorority right there underneath I was an Anchorage I said Who is the
This lady I need to know her and she influenced me I said what what topic do you think I should do oh you should do you should do Greek life girl you should do it you know you should do it and so she’s out okay and
I just want to say that being a sister or a brother being a young person um is difficult and especially in this day and I would not trade my 80s and 90s experiences for anything I would not want to go back but I tell you I am so
Impressed with you all and I’d like to give you all a chance to share if you want to share what you’re doing now if you have a adventure if you have a you know a comp oh there she is this was so awesome and a great display of real
Greek fraternity love thank you so everyone Narita [Laughter] so if you want to have a um and then trace of the grand my line sister great guest you all know Tracy married to the alpha okay so um if you all would like to share what you’re doing if it’s your
Company your organization a project or anything I would love to hear what you’re up to and just let let the um let the viewers know what who did you become who did that become so I’m the father of four uh you know 23 21 16 and 10. my 10
Year old boy is sitting here on just opposite uh me here um uh married 29 years um I work in philanthropy uh with an organization called the shot foundation for public education that really works at the intersection um of Education Justice and uh and democracy so uh we fund organizations
All across the country that are focused on reimagining and rebuilding education principle The Long equity and and Justice lines so that’s who I who I became the most important is the daddy of the four thank you and Michael what’d you say the organization was again the what organization it’s the shot
Foundation for public education shots okay foundation for public again you want me to call on you or somebody gonna go Steve what do you want to uh Stevie D I’m just trying to age gracefully that’s amazing actually I I am a proud father of my my only daughter
I’m a grandfather I have a four to six-year-old granddaughters uh gosh y’all man saw me on Family Feud I’m actually an independent real estate broker I have my own little small company down here in Dallas uh so I’ve been down here 20 going on 21 years
Um so if you’re in a Dallas area come check me out uh that’s about it like to travel and one thing I did not get to impart and a lot of these guys all echoed it um being at Mizzou we were all friends we all supported each other yes what
Organization we were in and I know in particular you know we would all sometimes be together even outside of a party setting just as friends or we had class together we were studying together so it was good to have these relationships good bonds that last to
This day so and I can think back seeing all these brothers at any particular time we were doing some some things we probably shouldn’t have been doing yeah and the things that were you know propelling us forward so that that those are memories that I cherish and I hope
You all to do as well um and and it is it’s made me the person who I am today thank you so much okay all right Larry you want to go next uh what am I doing uh for the most part I’m a family specialist I’ve worked with um multiple Community organizations around
The city of Detroit um service and communities with resources and educational opportunities um just uh walking to Earth no doubt my second mayor uh I have uh uh my own my oldest is a AKA my father Jelena [Laughter] let’s see uh multiple marathons other extended children in the heart that um
They call me dad and I try to uh answer the call every time it’s made I love it thank you Julius hey before I jump in I got to do this for Larry we can’t hear it um that might have been God just just let that go
Okay so let’s keep going okay that Digital Underground Humpty Dance was your track okay oh yeah we can’t be playing that anymore it sure was yes it was so uh yeah uh proud very proud father of three young men uh one who is moved on to uh work at ESPN another one who’s
Overseas right now going to school uh he’s uh exceptionally proud of him at Michigan State and another one in junior high trying to figure out where he’s going to go so the The Pride that I have is in these young men and um yeah what’s what’s going to be in the
World for them um in terms of me what I have done with my life uh after going through Mizzou for two engineering degrees minor in mathematics minor in economics went on to grad school got an MBA went on to go work for Ford Motor Company and now a
Quality engineer at Ford Motor Company and uh can’t say that I I’m disappointed in the way things have turned out I’ve been uh definitely preparing me for anything and everything I would you know run into in terms of everything that’s happened and uh Ian by the way I do remember those
Nasty days when all of the black students got together and studied right that’s right no matter what Greek organization we got around that table we cracked those books and that’s the Society of black engineers and you’ve been at Ford for what almost 30 years yeah it’s been there it’s been there for
A while yeah and married for how many years now well about the same amount of time okay Ian last but not least yeah so excited uh good to kind of see where people are and what’s going on what’s important so I mean if you remember a Carmen who was my girlfriend at Mizzou
So we just celebrated our 30 years and we have a 30 year old daughter who also is an educator so she’s uh she just finished her eighth year as an educator she lives in in Atlanta so uh so man that that’s good uh you know once I walked away from the engineering program
In Mizzou I became an educator so I’ve been an educator for a long time um right you know yeah I got a book coming out uh I think uh you know I was in U City assistant super U City for five years uh and I was in it yeah
Assistant assistant soup and so uh that was interesting because you don’t see that many black men in the academic parts of school districts and so that’s really why I wanted to do that because you see us in HR you see us in operations you see us in maybe Dei
Uh but you don’t necessarily see us in the academic stuff so I wanted that and then uh so for the last I guess year and four months I’ve been a full-time entrepreneur just a hustler uh and uh I do have a book coming out yeah uh you
Time Miss Bradford give you time he was view time before she was she was tired but yes [Laughter] I can appreciate my time in U City yeah yeah so that’s the book oh okay and and I will just give uh my girl a shout out
She was a book coach for me and a Ghostwriter so she helped me uh with my momentum getting this book off and so it fine and I want to just publicly thank Jolena who was an expert and a boss at what she does and so I just want to
Honor and respect all of the support that you gave me uh to get this off so so yeah so December 3rd we will have the formal uh kind of countdown starting uh in two days November 3rd and the form of book launches December 3rd so uh Yeah man so I’m excited that is
Wonderful I’m so proud of you anything this brother is being a little modest so I’m gonna blow his horn for him okay uh let me just tell you and your audience Ian Dr Buchanan is a highly highly sought after professional coach for educational leaders particularly appreciate it after superintendent level
And higher yeah this brother is helping to develop the next generation of school district leaders all across this country primarily folks of color but he’s radically radically changing the way the educational Enterprise operates just by virtue of the kind of experience he has and the way he’s helping folk to move
Ahead so I just got to shout you out brother respect man I appreciate that man I need to record that man yeah but brother Waterson you already know how much I respect you and how much you kind of led the way man for us man we
You know episode was cool to be a uh you could be a scholar you could be cool you could do everything you needed to do man and you led that appreciate it bro appreciate it yeah okay so oh yeah oh there’s my dog back in the 90s
I love it okay so as we’re wrapping up okay so first you guys if you don’t mind um we’re gonna I’m gonna put you in this in the room but don’t leave yet if you have a minute okay don’t don’t leave the broadcast okay and we’re going to um
So if you got if you can put them in the room and then we’re gonna run a little video we’re gonna run this little video my producer’s gonna surprise me okay so go ahead Chuck dizzy oh boy this dude is crazy yeah I don’t know what it’s gonna be I know uh-oh I
Hope you get to see his Bobby Brown invitation again I guess it’s coming anytime all right okay I guess we’re waiting for that so um before we go this is what I like to say some final Thoughts From Me um this has been so heartwarming to literally call these guys and say hey
Would you mind coming on my show and um you know I told you all that I wanted to do content that meant something that made a difference and that was authentic and would make a difference in the lives of people watching so I hope that you
Have gotten a chance to see the spirit of Brotherhood the spirit of camaraderie and what a few men can do if given the opportunity and so if you have the opportunity to lift up someone who’s younger or older than you your brother your sister a child someone else’s child please do so it’s
Really important that people have support and I hope this broadcast has shown it so we’re going to see this video and then depending on what it is I might come back okay it’s ready let’s go oh back in the days when I was young I’m
Not a kid anymore but some days I sit and wish I wasn’t here to get back in the days when I was young I’m not a kid anymore but some days I sit and wish I was a kid oh that was beautiful thank you and I’m
Sorry we had our special guest DVD we didn’t get one of your pictures in in enough time so I’m sorry about that um but I do want to thank you because if it weren’t for you and I mean this I said it before but if it weren’t for you
I would have never had the opportunity to go out to LA and living in Los Angeles changed my whole entire life so I always love you for that and I want to thank you guys again stay in the studio we’re going to close out this broadcast
I’m not gonna do an Ask authentic Joe question tonight but I want to ask you all to continue to watch the show we’re on at 7 p.m central time every Tuesday and um please watch on YouTube please watch link share comment all of those great things I really hope you got something
Great out of this and that it warms your heart like it wore mine take great care and until next time thanks guys been in now I was about to blow up foreign Foreign
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