Are Black Greek Organizations Sufficiently Maximizing Their Power To Impact Social Change?

One nine they do living that same time oh y’all we’re here the Alpha Christian in Baltimore – what angular General Convention and the issue of social activism was the focus of the public program on Wednesday the convention slogan is urgency now but the question is are we seeing actual

Urgency from Greek letter organizations number of some two million members between the very the nine organizations are they doing enough I want to go to our panel talk about that Jeff you model you call moderated that panel with April Ryan and and I have consistently said publicly on television radio if there is

No other institutions of black community that has this level of infrastructure in terms of that vertical and horizontal terms the international leadership national regional state grant undergrad individuals with lifelong commitment that I believe in I don’t care anyone says has not sufficiently maximized its power your assessment I agree I think at

The end of the day we have to recognize the power of the legacy of the organizations and the importance of them and the potential relevance of them now I don’t think we’ve used our money the right way I think we waste money we come in many cases to conventions and leave

Without legitimate strategies without legitimate plans without pushing that money into infrastructure that actually transforms as opposed to talking about transforming I think our ability to develop pragmatic agendas we often are too broad and we have a kitchen sink that has 85,000 things in it versus three things that we do excellent I

Think as a divine nine we are more tribalistic than those that aren’t members of organizations and so we often isolate those that are not members of Greek letter organizations and then when we get in them we’re more tribalistic and don’t get anything done and so there’s a real opportunity for the

By nine to say wait a minute what are the nine things we do great and how do we support each organization doing something great as opposed to duplicating services because if we were really a collective then there would be nothing that could stop us and we could really create transformation not only at

The local level but there would be a model of national leadership that the divine nine can provide that I don’t think any other institutions in our community currently have the capacity to provide Myers your Delta thought your Delta we saw during the height of black lives matter protests where you living

At two sororities who told their members don’t worry your letters in your colors to the protest I an I remember texting a brother Mark Tillman with general president the time and I said surely he said we’re already there he immediately put it out help us where your letters

And your colors to protest we in and there were a lot of members who push back then wait a minute how y’all telling us we shouldn’t rep at these protests I believe partners issue is that many divide our organizations male and female are risk-averse not only of a risk-averse but they’re actually paying

Attention to this 501 C 3 or 501 C 7 status that many of these organizations have there are some like the links who even have 501 C 4 status which gives them the ability to be more political the people who don’t know all that stuff

Means yeah explain a 501 C 3 a 501 C 4 and the 501 C 7 501 C 3 non-profit you’re supposed to be nonpartisan and so people need you can’t endorse a candidate can endorse a candidate and you can’t endorse the legislation but you can do anything else you can protest

You can educate policymakers you can do a lot other people issues we can advocate for issues and we think we can’t do anything and so I think people because people don’t understand that they’re paralyzed and it’s also occasional bit of lynch when for nomination was being held up

Many deltas with the Capitol Hill is that a lot that is lobbying senators to say you should confirm this that is allowed not allowed is saying vote for this the candidate as an organization or vote for this specific bill SB h 132 but they can do everything else under a 501c3

Status 501 C 4 the links they can do even more they can rub little ads baiting doors they can run political ads they can endorse and yet you have a pack what C seven and and C seven is the status that some of these organizations have to and it’s a lot for Association

So not necessarily a non-profit it’s still nonprofit but it’s an association nonprofit membership Liz that’s all I’m a delta and I remember the black lives matter movement and getting that email and feeling really disappointed because I think that there was a call to action that kind of spurred my interest in

Joining the organization just the political activism and even though I do understand that a lot of the organizations are risk averse and they’re not really cooling their resources together and moving a black agenda forward in our nation’s there’s still something about the organization’s something about its members who are out

There whether they have the leadership support or not that make other people still want to come and be a part of it well here’s a different only interesting to me when the sorority sisters was on vh1 oh let’s mobilize real quick and that show got canceled so we have clear

Examples of what happens when people say that the vested interest and I was one of the folks who stood with those sisters saying take that crap off there but then when they got taken off I then stayed to the same sisters what’s next when we saw the 14 year old girl in

Texas McKinney Texas here slammed to the ground of the police officer I challenged the sorority thing you got to say something share that have to be a member to say something Sandra bland of course she was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho every sorority fraternity should have been out

Raised saying what took place to her and it shouldn’t have to be a press release that comes out a week after it actually is taking place well and as it as a as a non-member as a non-member one of the things that I find interesting you talk about the kind of the tribal

Aspect of kind of the enclosed space of what of what they do what the fraternities sororities do as a teaching at Towson University though I think it’s what happens after you graduate what happens actually you don’t have that enclosed infrastructure anymore and and I think that one things that strikes me

As odd is not having the the force of will to make change happen only doing it when you feel like you want to do it as opposed to doing it because it is necessary to do it and let’s be clear when you look at the amount of the

Amount of scholarships when you look at the various initiatives we’re talking about a significant amount of things I think there are a number of things that are done but the average person has no idea and even exist but the argument that I’ve been making Jeff is that that

Can’t be an internal thing I can tell you for a fact in nine years of doing this show interesting what you were moderating other day I’m listening to folks talk I have not gotten a phone call or an email from national Penhale saying can we come on your show on Tom

Joyner or TV want to discuss this initiative the end of times when you had it was when I called individuals saying you’re doing this come on and that to me makes no sense and I think people out there going y’all ain’t doing nothing because we’re communicating internally and not serving the broader black

Community but there’s also an issue and I think it the predicative of our national organizations regardless of whether they’re Greek little organizations so I see it in church denominations I see it in the n-double-a-cp in the Urban League what has happened by and large is you have unbelievably effective local

Affiliates or branches or chapters and they’re killing it I remember the first time I thought Alfa was amazing was that’s 15 when I went with my dad to see Alfa towers open in Cleveland and so it said to me wait a minute I’m just doing meetings they own this building they’re

Serving these senior citizens they’re making services available there they’re creating economic impact and it’s 15 that said I never saw anybody step I hadn’t seen anybody on the undergrad I was not a people that was not what got me what I got me was the grad chapter

Doing legitimate work at the local level the challenge that I think we’re having is broad we have incredibly weak national leadership by and large when it comes to creating consistent and focused agendas now you can like me or not like me for saying it I’ll care I’ve been at

The national level of the n-double a-c-p I’ve looked at those boards I look at oftentimes how those boards block real policy driving forward and I think until we challenge who we have on our board until we make it a mandate to say image means nothing without impact and we

Spent so much time concerned look I’ll be making a legacy view of who was here 50 years ago in 60 years ago are we maintaining the legacy on the founders but don’t give a damn about what does it mean for babies whether they’re members of the organization or

Not I want kids who are not members of Alpha Phi Alpha to be able to say here’s what I would buy up it did for my community whether I decided to be a member that impact is the focus it’s all a show round-robin real quick before I bring up

Our next guest and that is the one issue that should be the dominant issue for the collective divine nine I might say education poverty criminal justice reform education he days on TV one I will never lie to you oh my god Rowlands mark he doesn’t want to talk to us he

Wants to ignore us hello daddy no cut it boom unapologetic no no that is fundamentally false you are wrong good bill he wants an America where we all look alike he ain’t talking about black people unrelenting you better go work out because you got to fight on your hand

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