Crossing Over: Black Greek Life: Traditions | SWI Segments | 10/28/2022

Thank you when you think of black Greeks the first thing that probably comes to mind is stepping or strolling these are two art forms that are very unique to the black experience but they didn’t originate in America at least not fully tonight in the very last episode of crossing over

Black Greek life we explore this very sacred expression of culture these movements are precise rhythmic synchronizing with the beat made entirely by hands and feet we’ve seen it in a lot of media and it’s iconic for a reason stepping and strolling are what most people think of when they hear the

Phrase black Greek life it’s almost synonymous with the name but what is it why do they do it I met up with Terrell Carter the president of the Omicron Beta Sigma chapter of Phi Beta Sigma he knows all about the history of this art form so when people

Think of black Greek life the first thing that a lot of people think of is stepping dancing all of these things but can you explain in your words what is stepping stepping is an expression right it’s it’s an expression of sound of art of creativity of imagination all wrapped

Into one ball right there’s a lot of thought that goes into step because you have to you have to marry all of those things into one Accord whether it’s your feet your hands your voice different Taps the different bases you have to make sure that all those things fall in

The right spot at the right time and everyone is doing the exact same thing and so from an expression standpoint is really has been a way for black greek-led organizations to express themselves and also bring a little attention to what they’re doing who they are and where they come from does every

Organization step once you become a member you tend to do it whether it’s it’s doing your probate or neophy show is what we call them now you do the signature step so you have even if you don’t step at all after that you have your opportunity to get that step in to

Make sure that you you kind of take take hold of the tradition and show people exactly what you can do wait a second probate neophyte that thing really dates back to when people were pledging and in the 1960s those persons were called probase they were on probation they had limited

Contact with their friends and peers outside of that process they were all in in terms of joining their organization toward the end of that process those new members then had a performance so the probates then would get together and they would be formally presented to the

Campus this was really the only time we saw this kind of self-expression with these groups and they had dances that they did a lot of times they would use the popular music of the day and change the lyrics so that it would be an Ode to their organizations out of those

Presentations came stepping going into the 1970s and so we started to see now this emergence of this new art form okay so stepping is just a way to Showcase I am now a part of this organization and I’m proud of it these are my letters yeah see me see me this

Is who I am but the roots of this art form have nothing to do with neophyte shows or initiations it was all about communication South African miners use the sound of their hands and gum boots to send messages to each other underground during the apartheid sometimes they’d attach bells to their feet or hands to amplify the noise it was their language to alert the other miners that they were doing well

That they were alive you know to check on them to see to keep their Spirits high it was almost like singing to him but you can’t sing so you’re making the beat and you’re just you know if you’re on a minor in a different area and you

Hear it and you know that that group is okay you know that that group is is doing well they’re trying to encourage you to continue working that it’ll all be over soon because we are black greek-led organizations and a lot of the history and the the traditions and

Heritage that we have comes from our ancestors that’s kind of the way that art form has transformed and gone through Generation generation generations to where it is now to where it’s almost the same thing right we communicate with our steps to to the the audience to other Greek organizations to

Our brothers and sisters in Greek life just say this is who we are this is what we’ve been doing this is what we do as a whole uh and to express ourselves right so it hadn’t it hadn’t gone too far from the origin foreign dance represented a type of black Unity

Greeks were desperately trying to capture by the 60s and 70s they were redefining themselves and their Blackness movement was the best way to do that so members adopted the Gumboot dance and added their own identity to it that’s when you start to see the iconic hand signs and gestures and the poses it’s

Just now it’s very evolved it’s a lot of things that go into it now that uh that wasn’t back then and depending on what type of show it is you are telling a story yeah absolutely Step shows can range in their storytelling you can see a critique of the world or a comedic number about Michael Jackson but no step showcase would be complete without a stroll so this is where people will non-greeks get kind of confused so they’re stepping and then they’re strolling what’s the difference so uh

Stepping is like I said it’s it’s building a rhythm or a beat with your hands your feet your mouth whereas strolling you’re not necessarily dependent upon yourself being the instrument right when you’re scrolling you’re scrolling to a song or a recorded beat that’s already there for you so

You’re literally just filling the gaps with you know creative dance strolling was originally called the party walk it was a Unified Dance that Greeks did at parties it started as Just One Dance for Greeks to show off their letters and moves but then it turned into almost a necessity I

Think around maybe late 90s early 2000s is when you really started seeing that strolling was catching up with stepping and I would say 2000 and showing my age 2007-ish eightish was when you you know you started noticing like instead of having step shows you had stroll offs

And people were putting a lot of time into coming up with strolls because they wanted to perform strolling and stepping are now an integral part of this Greek tradition and nothing compares to the first time I saw it when I was a kid I don’t think anyone can prepare for the explosion of

Culture you see when you sit down to watch a show but it fills me with absolute joy that this art form will live on for generations to come

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