So hello everybody i’m pamela marshall at the wellness radio tv and at the wellness radio tv podcast it is thursday this is the night that we do it my guest dr rick stevenson who is a professor of african american studies and african-american history at the university of florida
How you doing dr stevenson i am well how are you it’s a great day we didn’t get as much wind and rain as and anticipated so all is well how’s your week we did not and the students in alachua county got a free day out of school schools were fun
We got two because we had our veterans day too oh yeah yeah you know that used to happen when i grew up in jackson tennessee and there would be snow in the forecast and they’d go ahead and shut schools down the next day people would be out washing their cars right
Oh if you get a snow day here if we get a snow day here in florida i’m moving i moved i here some snow flurries a couple years ago it was like i was at the farmers market it was on saturday morning and i was like what it was like just you
Know like a few just a very very few you sure what are you trying to say dr rick stevenson not only is he a professor but you know and as you all can see our background today we are going to be talking about the divine nine of the sororities and fraternities
That have been a part of the bedrock the foundation of helping to develop african-american leaders since the turn of the century yes and and in this today uh with a president-elect and to talk about the role that these organizations played in the election of president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect
Kamala harris and as we said in our teaser the divine nine stepping in the white house and for those of you who do not know what stepping is please go to youtube and look up a greek show stepping video there is nothing like it but on the planet nothing no no
Trust me i’ve done it for years it is a blast yeah you still have your knees can you still stop because i can still do a little something do you know like i have been an alpha for 50 years wow so has your stumping changed before you answered
Dr stevenson before we get into our show let us go to god in prayer sure god we thank you for another opportunity to share and to be listened to but also to learn from others we thank you for the divine nine and what they have meant on college campuses all across this country
But we also thank you for everyone who voted and uh we are now in the midst of a transition of power we pray that tonight would just be another opportunity to encourage us to learn more about ourselves and this world in which we live in the name of jesus
Amen amen the divine nine these sororities and fraternities that started forming as early as 1903 now do the math the emancipation proclamation uh 1865 and in that short amount of time the enslaved african starting to be educated build towns and communities and then these social organizations
Is remarkable in and of itself i think yet as much as there is the the discussion among those on uh college campuses i don’t think the rest of the world has an appreciation for what these organisms these service oriented organizations have meant to communities across this country i agree
And i think that also um especially for alpha phi alpha which is the fraternity that i belong to and kappa alpha psi these two fraternities along with zeta phi beta were established on the campuses of white universities and that is it’s significant especially uh in uh 1906 1911 did if i better wasn’t
Established um um indiana um but uh 1906 you have seven men at cornell university uh starting a social club but also an opportunity for men to study together to protect themselves as they come across campus kappa alpha psi starts at indiana state university 1911 very racist very few
Black people on the campus at the time uh and as a matter of fact it was so racist that they could not stay in the dormitories they oftentimes couldn’t find housing within the cities and the original name i bring them up even though i’m an alpha but i bring
Them up because i think people need to understand why black fraternities and sororities are so important to black students uh the the original name of kappa alpha psi was kappa alpha nu and the history goes that uh they were not permitted to play any of the contacts for us but they did
Participate in track and one of the founders of cap alpha psi was a runner and while running one of his uh brothers heard overheard a white student say oh he belongs to kappa alpha nick and uh between that and the fact that there are letters with k-a-n sometimes people argue
Got it mixed up with kansas they changed the letters to kappa alpha psi and the point is that black fraternities did more than just socialize black sororities were not just about socialization they were about engaging in civic action and cultural change and so uh when we look at these organizations we have to
As much as as marching and stomping and you know being out in the yard is a part of it the main part is that these organizations pursued education and they realized that if we were going to change we black people were going to change our status
We were going to have to do it under the umbrella of education and being able to take some kind of control over our destinies and so as these organizations were um being set up um how is it you know there was a book i think it was probably in the late 90s
Our kind of people do you remember that book i’m not familiar with that no so it it’s about the history of uh african-american organizations from fraternities to the bullies jack and jill organization the masons sure all of these groups you know because black people who were going to college
And then moving up in the economic status were not included in white organizations so black people started forming their own exactly that’s the history of america yeah and so informing their own it’s it’s still while there was some exclusivity because even though you were an alpha man
You still had somebody in your family that may not have graduated from high school exactly so it’s as if these organizations these these black organizations did not feel the same way that the country club group did or old money sure in white communities it really was always the need to reach back
Because if not all of these sororities and fraternities the majority of them will have um programs where they work with teenagers absolutely and that that’s helping to to to build that sense of purpose that sense of pride the sense of understanding the significance of education
And getting a sense of destiny i think i think that one of the things that we fail to realize especially when it comes to education in a white supremacist society is how difficult it is to control and participate in your own destiny when you don’t have one education or good education but two
People around you in the network who can teach you how to navigate my youngest brother is an alpha and i’m 10 years older than he is but i would take him to the greek picnics with me i would take him when he was younger to fraternity parties with me i would take him
You know to events where he could see black educated people my oldest son is an alpha you know and so and and when i was in california my brother took over the taking him right and so it’s it’s i think that we we have gotten away from passing on that history
Of how important these organizations were not just to our social life but to our uh professional survival you know when the first things i do when i move into a city or town is i want to find out what a frat is i want to know where the grad chapter is i
Want to know what’s happening on campus when i first came into uf one of the first things i tried to do was connect with the undergraduate chapter you know because there’s a camaraderie and there’s a there’s a there’s there are tools of navigation a lot of the accomplishments we’ve had
Since my wife and i have had since we’ve been here has been because i’ve connected with fraternity brothers who knew what’s going on and they connected me with other things so it’s important to understand that that these organizations are not just about partying and hanging out it’s about creating a network of professionals
Who are inside the rooms that can open doors for you and teach you how to navigate this situation and these organizations are taking a more prominent role in the recent election the images that we have seen of the fraternities in their in their jackets marching to the polls
Across the country how much do you feel that the position that kamala harris vice president-elect kamala harris is in played a role in that she is an aka and you know the you know i’m sorry that all of the pink and green will not be on the mall uh january 20th
Because i know those sisters would have been out let me tell you something i’m telling you right now america ought to be glad that covet is in town because there will be so much so many greek colors listen to me i’m telling you and aka in the white house are you kidding me
Um i was i was talking to my wife just the other day and i said you know we should go to your inauguration my brother lives in dc i don’t get dc you’re not going to stay this out we were talking about that but they’re having so much concerns about coving and
Traveling during that time but i’m telling you if it were enough for the rona every single greek organization within the context of the divine nine would be in that place there would be so many red and whites and blue and whites and pink and greens and purple and gold it would it would
Listen the united states would not be able to handle all these black greeks in one place at one time i’m telling you would flood the place and with joy yes absolutely absolutely what has the conversation been like and why is it significant you know it’s interesting um you asked
That question because i i was i was i was trying to think about what went through vice president i mean well former vice president now president-elect biden’s mom when he selected uh vice president-elect cumberland harris and i’d be willing to bet you that that conversation took place about the role
Of greek educated men and women uh uh being a part of the voting process being a part of the uh nominating process and so on i mean you gotta understand that like for instance omega scifi right you’ve got ricky smiley you’ve got max roach you’ve got count basie sterling brown langston hughes
Steve harvey tom joyner i mean you know these are big names of individuals who belong this fraternity and how many people follow them you know alpha phi alpha you’ve got thurgood marshall frederick douglass david dinkins uh john johnson martin luther king jr jesse owens you know i mean the names you know
You look at delta sigma theta um brigadier general hazel johnson brown won the first female african-american brigadier generals summer break phd alexa canada phd she is famous as a neurosurgeon i mean these are the kinds of people we’re talking about that have their own circles of influence you know
And so i’m quite sure that that conversation uh though that kind of uh uh uh insight was part of the conversation when biden selected her because the greeks turned out in record numbers you understand i’m saying i mean we had souls to the polls here that was led by the panhellenic council
All right and for those who don’t know what the panalytic council is would you explain that yes that is the council it is the uh leaders of each of the divine nine organizations the iota’s the delta zetas the phi beta sigma kappas they the the the panel council is a is the leadership
Of the panhellenic group uh pan meaning around hellenic meaning greek right so you have this group of greek organizations greek letter organizations black greek letter organization that has a council and they participate in all sorts of social events every year the deltas have a fundraiser and we attend the alphas have
A fundraiser we attend the accused have you know so each of the organizations support each other because we recognize that we’re stronger together even though we may you know rag on each other because we have different colors different starting times the point is what we have in common is we’re
Black we’re educated and we’re trying to move the move the needle socially so i’m quite sure that that that when when biden was when um um president biden was talking about a running mate that that conversation came up because he made a he made a speech to
Every single one of the black uh greek organizations he couldn’t visit them and he did video uh speeches to each of these organizations and i just thought that was phenomenal you know it show it showed me that he’s paying attention because you know you look at you look at
People like martin luther king who was an alpha third grade martial alpha um uh you know you have these people in these high power positions who recognize that their fraternities or their sororities are not just about having fun they’re about making change that’s why they came into existence
We were trying to make sure that we could leave a legacy for our children and give them a place that was safer than the place that they lived in and so i’m getting some feedback is that me or you i think it’s you it’s not me okay
So you have the relationship between the sororities and the fraternities talk about the interaction between the the sororities yeah and the fraternities in the penalty council and the significance of that okay so so so like the alphas alpha phi alpha and alpha kappa alpha brothers and sisters
Zeta phi beta phi beta sigma brothers and sisters uh in some another campus the deltas and the omegas are pretty close right and so it is a sense in which the brothers recognize the importance of looking out for the sisters but the sisters are so
Dynamic i mean one of the things that i think you and i talked about this earlier is people don’t people tend to underestimate how strong black women are and when you get strong black women in these greek organizations and then you have a whole room of them that’s a whole different part
And i think that um what we recognize especially in the old days of prejud um we understood that this we didn’t we didn’t get these letters easily you know i’m some of the the pledging has changed quite a bit because of hazing and i get all that
But i pledged 10 months and when i went over i was i mean my blood was black and gold you know what i mean and so there’s a there is a there’s a worth that one gets when you finally cross those burning sands and you are allowed to wear those greek letters
And when you recognize that some other one did it in a different organization you understand that they didn’t give it to him you didn’t buy it you had to work for it and uh that that that gives you a level of not only satisfaction but appreciation for the other person’s intestinal fortitude
Hmm yeah yeah dr flora clay brook i interviewed her a couple of weeks ago she is an author and she just she’s watching and she left a comment she’s a theologian as well and she said that some theologians teach that greek organizations are anti-christian due to the idolatrous nature of the greek culture
Now you are a theologian how have you balanced that or what are your thoughts on that thank you dr clay brooke for watching and did you pledge anything and if you’re watching and you did pledge something please let us know what you pledged and and what your thoughts are on um the
Greek organizations and the role that the organizations are going to be playing in the white house you know i would say this um let me give you an analogy first and then i’ll respond to your question so i was talking to a few students um
And i said to them why did you decide to come to a pwi predominantly white institution as opposed to an hbcu and they said well most people in my family told me that if you go to an hbcu you’re not going a good education get a good education
And so i said so how many people when it was the hbcus that produced many of those names that you just talked about exactly i said how many of those people who told you not to go to an hbcu went to college period well none of them so then how do they know
The same thing happens when and i’m a theologian you know i have two masters degree in biblical studies and theology and a doctrine in church history and and one of the things that i know about alpha is we pray we are many of us are christians we always have church services
That matter of fact when we were pledging we had to be in church every sunday so you know to to argue that they’re anti-christ or anti-christian is a misnomer especially for someone who’s not greek now you may you may have had a bad experience with the greek organization
And there may have been someone in their organization who was not christian that’s not impossible because they’re not quote necessarily christian organizations but they do have christian ethics i would i i would i would dare uh uh you to find any of the divine nine that there aren’t people who are preachers
There aren’t uh people who taught in seminary uh cornell west one of the leading theologians in this country is an alpha man well as she she said some and then i i suppose you know as i’m reading and studying and learning more that there are many things that can be
Placed higher than they need to be in an idolatry i dial it out i doubt you right yeah but i was trying to say it another kind of way anyway in that nature even our children even reading that worry can be a form of idolatry sure okay anything that you are thinking
More about than than god can be um considered idolatry in nature so we think i think even as we look at this election yeah and how people have been so you know they they’ve drawn a line in the sand when it comes to friends and even family members
Uh based on who somebody is supporting and as i have said each of these candidates when we believe in the day of judgment each of these candidates will be in line with you so don’t hold them in such high esteem that you forget about the one who actually controls
Their breath and your breath so so go ahead no go ahead i’m sorry i want to i want to throw something out there that that i think is essential at least it was to my journey as a pleasure but go ahead and say your part first night and
I’ll come back to you oh no i’m good i’m good go ahead okay so when i first went online it was 12 of us uh by the by by the time we got down to the fourth or fifth week it was four of us my line my lines name was the fearsome foursome
Uh our trey was a missionary he’s a christian pete sanders and even though i went to church occasionally i was not pete i mean pete was stone cold christian he loved jesus uh but he loved to fret and not too long after we went over he was on a missionary trip
In mexico driving a school bus and and and and the bus went off of a bridge and he died and everybody on it and the last thing i remember was one night we were going to a meeting and pete said to us the only way we’re going to make it
Through this is if we pray every time we get together now that may not be everybody’s testimony but pete sanders literally changed my life when it came to my understanding of what it meant to be a christian and the older i got the more i thought about i cannot wait to see pete
Because he died just not too long after we we were made but i’ll never forget that he said the only way we’re going to make it through this thing is if we pray and we’re young college students so you know everybody’s testimony is different you know and obviously anything can become my
Doctors your car can be idolatrous you know i used to tell some brother said if you if you rub on your wife as much as you rub on your car you wouldn’t have so many problems in your family you know that’s a personal decision that is not an organizational decision
Gotcha so in in this role and thank you dr flora claybrook it’s a very uh good question and a good comment it’s actually a statement and i think that we have to have open dialogue about uh these kinds of things and you know there are people who Have various kinds of beliefs that can be limiting in their participation in in things so uh thank you for that very much i really really appreciate it uh dr rick stevenson uh african american history professor at the university of florida and and in these with these students
That you were talking about that you talked to about why they select a school of higher learning uh and she is a delta she played delta as a freshman just because everybody was doing it however i did not feel compelled to go through with it ah i had tremendous respect for sorority
For turning brothers and sisters you know i was going to pledge delta but i there wasn’t a delta atlanta that’s where i went but that’s that’s the sorority that i would have pledged yeah um the young people today as um i think the image that we see and hear about african-american young people
Who are more drawn to a street kind of gang kind of life whether that’s the majority or not why is it that you think the fraternities and sororities that have been around since 1903 have not taken a more prominent role in the communities well i’m not i’m not so sure
That they haven’t i mean we have i know at least since i’ve been here in florida the grad chapter here is constantly engaged in uh educational opportunities for students uh we do uh the the undergraduate school does a scholarship banquet every year i think that well let me just say this
Let me just say this i’m not saying they’re not doing anything but i do know they do things but i think it happens in a bubble okay well let me let i was i was going to try to i’m trying to move to a context okay okay so greek organization and organizations
Like that had a higher profile in the 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s and 70s because we couldn’t do anything else right we have to realize that context oftentimes dictates behavior you know uh there were places that you and i couldn’t go in the 60s right there were movie theaters where we
Had to sit in the back in the 60s these kids don’t know right they they’ve heard of rosa parks you know but they don’t know about you know elaine brown you know brown versus board of education they that’s not their experience right right they have freedoms that we fought for
And and because they’re so under educated as to how they have access to those fear freedoms they don’t sense a need to participate in the kinds of organizations or the outreaches that we did we were very clear for instance just look at church in general
When we were coming up we went to church almost every day of the week because there were very few other places we could go right we learned to sing to clerk we learned politics in church we learned to socialize in church we oftentimes made our girlfriends or boyfriends or whether
I’m in church i mean that was our whole world and as the as the context of the world has changed and we have access to more freedoms these kids are making different choices i mean look at this the average cop the average child nowadays is overweight you know why because they
Spend so much time on the electronic device we didn’t have that we couldn’t wait to get outside so context plays a significant difference in the way that we uh look for and engage in organizations well see when we talk about our children they are being led and guided by the
Adults in their lives do you feel like once you could go and drink out of the other water fountain and you could go to this place in that place that we stop telling our stories to each other and so then it becomes less significant for the families
You’re right well i i think i think it’s both and i don’t think it’s only that i think that i i think i told you about this i wrote a paper when i’m in seminary where i argue that integration is one of the worst things ever happened to black people
Because and and social scientists will tell you that or that that businesses organizations people hire people who look like themselves and so if you’re in the black like black wall street for instance 1920 in greenwood um oklahoma you know booming you know the the harlem renaissance black people doing everything right uh
And we rely on each other and we hired each other we we looked out on each other because we couldn’t rely on the dominant culture but then when integration when doors start to come open and we started sneaking into these doors and being able to go to these larger venues
And eating these different restaurants we began to say hey you know what they probably like us so it’s okay we don’t need to congregate with each other as much well i think or it gave you a sense of it gave you a sense of worth that you can go to the white
Establishment yeah yeah yeah yeah we could go there for a minute because i think we just realized that that’s not not so much the case right and and if you look at this last election 70 million people voted for the president administration now what does that say to you right what
Does that say about immigration what does it say about assimilation what does that say about a country that still is not able to deal with the issue of race and the thing that happened i believe during the 60s and the 70s and then especially in the 80s when we were allowed to cross
Those barriers we forgot that we still needed to stay home and take care of home the second thing i want to argue is this there was a song that came out in 1970 by mark by marvin gaye called what’s going on he talked about babies having babies
And he and then and the argument in the song is that these young kids are now having babies because they are having sex and now these babies are raising babies right grand mamas are 30 years old now grandma doesn’t have the same kind of respect now that we have for our grandmothers
We’d be playing marbles on the street and when the when the church ladies came home we stand up and stop playing marbles because we respected them these young kids they don’t have respect for adults so the context has changed significantly and partly because the the the parents oftentimes are so young
That they’re not teaching these kids the kind of principles that we yes sir yes ma’am and get please and thank you they’ll do that stuff they you follow me i mean the context is just so different that that the need and or the respect for these kinds of
Organizations are in a sense you’re right in a bubble when you’re in the environment where they exist if you’re not in college you’re probably not going to know about it you know you’re not going to care about it either because you’re doing pretty well by yourself
But when we were coming up we rely on those organizations yeah and as i watch you know we talk about the the institutions that have undergirded the african-american community the church hbcus the social organizations like the sororities or the masons or the daughters of isis
What is it the jack and jill what’s the other group jack and jill anyway when we talk about those those organizations and um the role that they played uh dr stevenson when we when we don’t see the significance when we don’t see the significance we as black people we as black people no
Longer see the significance because now we can be where we always longed to be right because just with us cannot be enough we can be where we always long to be yeah and i have no need for this anymore yeah and i’m i i hear what you’re saying and you’re right
And the question i would ask is i hope we we’ve learned over these past four years that the longing to be there is still not a safe place well i i also would like for people to understand and if you are a member of one of these organizations
Or any if you’re just a member of this human race i think it is so critical for us to start back even if you have a 30 year old grandmother in your family run the risk of being cussed out because she will still hear you they will still
Hear you it is almost like the what we’re seeing with this um struggle with uh confirmation of what has happened with with this election we got to quit being afraid we as african-americans who have come through so much yeah now we’re going to be afraid of some children
Yeah we’re not going to help correct some children yeah and and our feelings are so on the sleeves that we can’t hear what they’re saying and know that they’re they’re operating from lack lack of knowledge and that’s why you have to impart and as i as i look at the parties
Today the the party that the people who people are afraid to stand up and say you lost crazy yet you’re going to pull out some money and it has on it in god we trust it doesn’t say in a political party we trust it doesn’t say
In an ideology of the day we trust it says in god the divine we trust and you know you bring up you bring up political parties and i i i’d be willing to wager that the average young black person does not know that the republican party was actually founded to abolish slavery
That black people up until the early 1970s 1980s were predominantly republican right and what a lot of white people don’t know that either you’re right but yeah and you’re absolutely right but my concern is that we are so undereducated about foundational uh uh ideas and and history that
That we don’t even know how to respond to this we are we ought to be we are to be burned at the soul that a political party that was founded on the issue of abolition of slavery has become so racist well you got to know you got to know it
They can’t they can’t be bothered if they don’t know and then then i’m back at at these organizations that we’re talking about i think that in the service that’s provided i think knowledge ought to be at the forefront and the list of people that you have called off today and it’s
Just a fraction of the kind of leadership that’s come out of these organizations and i’m so extremely proud of vice president-elect kamala harris uh for what she represents for who she is and what she represents as she walks into the white house um as an african-american woman a woman of um
Uh indian descent and asian descent yeah um what that represents and the the what she’s gonna do yeah because because the one thing about us is we have been carrying our families probably carrying the fraternities they probably did a lot of homework that they didn’t get the grade for [Laughter]
Thank god for the sororities so y’all can graduate or at least or at least our little angel groups but i wanted something came up today i was doing i was doing a uh a diversity presentation for school in philadelphia and i said to them so who how many of you know who george
Washington is they all raised their hands how about uh abraham lincoln thomas jefferson everything i said what about carter g woodson no one knew who he was right so how many of you have ever celebrated african-american history month everybody think i said carter g woodson is the founder of african american history day
And in fact he was a cute he’s the second to earn a phd from harvard now the question is why don’t we know that it’s not that the information is not available the point i’m trying to make is we can as you mentioned earlier our parents did more than just
Raise us they taught us yes they made sure with the best that they could that once we got home from school we did our homework and they still made investments we’re not doing that to our kids yeah and so you’re right we because as carter g woodson said you cannot depend on the
Oppressor to teach your children the lessons that are going to lift him up he didn’t say that part i said that part but that’s the reality and so yeah and so we as you know one of the things that i admire about the jewish culture you don’t ever hear jewish people say
They’re not teaching you’re about being a jewish person because they do it exactly and that’s what we must do they don’t give their kids options no nor are they depending on you to do it they’re not depending on somebody else to do it yeah and i i think what happened is
We were so it meant so us meant so much for us coming through slavery and jim crow to be integrated that we were just glad to be in the room those that could get in the room and we have lost out hello hello kate bradshaw in memphis thank you for watching she said
Knowledge is power it definitely is which we got to go back to that understanding how powerful it is but we have to be the ones teaching it do you know that my youngest son corey when he was young and i’m talking seven eight nine years old
He could not go out to play without taking a book we were going to the basketball court we took a book because if he wasn’t playing he was reading when we would drive in the car he’d have a book because i wanted him to understand that sports and skills to do that is
Important but what’s most important is a mind that cannot be controlled because it’s empty yeah and i i i just think that you know that our our response and you you hit it i think we wanted to be in that room but then once we got there they didn’t want us there
So why are we still fighting to get in the room we have to we have to begin to support each other more we’ve got to buy black we’ve got to sell black we’ve got to hire we’ve got to be able to support ourselves in an environment that is designed to keep us
Oppressed and that’s what and that’s one of the things that that black sororities and black fraternities teach us that you can rely on your brother you can rely on your sister you can rely on those members who have pledged and worked hard to get the we we trust each other
Now obviously in any organization there’s going to be you know a few knuckleheads but for the most part if people know you’re greek they look out for you i remember one of the one of after meetings from the after one the next person i met
A gentleman here he’s a he’s a cube and he’s having an event and he called me on the phone and wanted me to speak at the event and i was already on my way to february but he said listen i met you at this at this event and i heard you speak
Man we’d love to have you come now he’s a cute right but the point is that there is something about the camaraderie that we have within the context of the divine nine that reminds us that this thing was a struggle and it’s still a struggle and the people we can rely on
Are the people who have been through what we’ve been through and see what we see and think the way that we think how is it that the divine nine uh and the role that the prominence of having a vice president who is a part of the divine nine how do you see
That play a role helping change the narrative and perhaps even moving um these groups more to the forefront our culture the americans yeah i just saw an article i wish i could locate it i just saw an article where uh it was talking about some of the some of the people that uh
Uh president biden is putting in position and you would be surprised how many of them are greek you know i mean you know what it’s probably it’s probably been the case a lot we just haven’t talked about it and that’s what i’m saying now excuse me now that vice president-elect harris is there
The role is being moved up but what else can they do how how do they move that camaraderie that sense of pride into the broader community right don’t think that they haven’t been there before i mean i don’t know if you knew or not but um uh the late john lewis was
A sigma yeah well that’s what i’m saying i know that they’re there yeah it just hasn’t been talked about yeah yeah you know ben chavis was is a sigma you know so i mean we’ve been around but but there’s that’s what this is just in my mind just another light
On what we bring to the table the mayor of georgia is a delta uh if you saw the movie um black panther every single one of the leading stars the black stars graduated hbcus and they were all greek in one way or another so we’re here you know i just see this as
As um the lord using this opportunity to shine another light on the kinds of talents and insights and backgrounds that we bring to the table because this country is so undereducated about the contributions of people of african descent and others but in this context black people that that they make statements like
Go back to your own country not realizing that the the the the the basic economic uh uh statute that this country has right now is because it was built on the backs of cotton pickers tobacco pickers and people who worked in sugar factories i mean sugar did sugar harvesting
I mean you know this country’s economic base was built on free labor you know so i i just think that that this is another another way that god is trying to show the united states that we can work together because we do bring the gifts and talents
To the table that is necessary to make progressive decisions i don’t mean progressive in a political sense i mean progressing and moving us forward as a community and moving us forward safely and i think the more we know about each other which is the other reason that i feel like it’s so
Significant that the these organizations tell their stories more outside of the circle and and make it known the contributions the service um the service code that the organizations were founded on the more that’s done then you can’t question my significance and not that not that it was only people
In the sororities and fraternities that made contributions because you know before when people were not able to get college education they were still they were still contributing absolutely so so i think that for uh probably for some you know non-african americans who have not been associated with any
Hbcus or people who’ve gone they may know zero about these organizations that have been the foundation for so many of our great scientists and theologians and doctors and lawyers and political leaders absolutely because because well for whatever reason you know they get there and we haven’t heard about it
We didn’t know we didn’t know i agree i agree and that’s why even in every one of my courses that i teach i try to introduce like my students have to write papers in each of my courses and what i challenge them to do is to write especially my african-american science courses
I challenge them to write a paper about a person of african or african american descent who has done something significant in their field of study because i want them to see that europeans haven’t done everything so if you’re in film then you got to find some matter black
Filmmaker if you’re in sociology you’re in medicine you’re from you know engineering find a black engineer whatever you know uh you would be surprised especially some of the white students they come back to man i never knew this person did dot dot you know what i’m saying and so
Uh we we have to do it at the college level but i think it’s also uh our parents responsibility my mother um when when i was younger i never forget this um she knew i liked books when i was young i mean six seven years old
So she started saving money so she could buy me an encyclopedia and that’s that’s when they had the traveling salesmen he would come to the door and my mother would buy me an encyclopedia every month she would save her money to buy me a book until i had the entire set i’ll never
Forget it was a burgundy set of encyclopedias with the little gold letters on them you know big as one and i had the entire set and that’s how i learned that’s how i began to really get a sense of what it meant to be a critical thinker you know and
That’s but parents aren’t doing that we give up we give these kids these phones and these pdas and and and the instrument becomes the babysitter yeah it really is unfortunate um kate bradshaw in memphis has a great suggestion and all of you that are watching if you
Are a member of one of these organizations please let us know we’d love to hear from you and represent start a watch party invite your fellow sorority members your fellow fraternity members to watch and be represented kate said it would be great if the divine nine collectively or separately could create libraries
Of african-american history specifically starting in the southern states awesome go to georgia started in georgia like right now yeah well yeah yeah i’m not a librarian i’m a historian but i would help do some of the research i would participate in that but that would that would be awesome because
There is so much southern history that we just don’t know you know at uf we have the um sham proctor oral history project and i got to tell you i have been introduced to some of the most exciting scholarship right here in in gainesville in ocala
That has blown my mind and it and it’s just scratching the surface i think it’s a great idea and even even the oral history of the members of these organizations that are still alive i don’t know if you all are capturing that but you know that’s just um some amazing
History that could be captured by the organizations you know the shows are great the parties are great the step shows are phenomenal hey the other thing i watched some step shows today and i was like you know what it’s amazing that they can do all that yeah
Why y’all go to church and y’all can’t move well it depends on what church you go to if you go to a pentecostal church um yeah but look look them same jokers that be stumped in the yard stuff in the yard they get to church they get real sophisticated
But that’s the politics of respectability no no no no no no no to me to me that is who we are and and i don’t know the exact origin but i do know that where the beat came from on the plantation and and before we got here
And and listen and it’s just amazing that we have to be so subdue that same kind of joy that happens at a step show it ought to be when we’re serving the one that gives us breath we have quit doing that in church i miss that in church
Why y’all act like y’all need somebody to choreograph your praise to the lord but you go to a step show is don’t i can’t do it but they begin well like like like i said it’s it’s the politics of respectability right we it took us a while to figure out how to
Fit in that’s why we wore suits and ties and they got their hair did and they had the big hats and so on because we wanted white people that was okay we could we weren’t going to hurt them right and we said they were subdued so so are we but if
You go to a pentecostal church well i know that i grew up i know that but you know what some of them have quieted down too some of them have quietened down too sir yeah they’re singing these songs with no beat you can’t get the holy ghost to that stuff doc
How the holy ghost goes because you’re supposed to bring the holy ghost with you well you know if you don’t have it when you get there somebody needs to be sharing i tell you what you go to a step show it look like some holy ghost in there
I have been to some rather exciting sections in my videos of course just imagine just imagine a praise to god like that i mean that’s see that’s some good stuff right there you praising the lord like that yeah you know you know who i would love that scene online martin luther king
You know i can’t imagine it though i would i would i can only imagine what he was like as a pledging i bet martin could dance though yeah quite right probably so i mean come on that’s what we did alpha’s lead that’s what i always tell
People all the other people say you know what my fraternity is great and they are but it’s you can only be there’s only one one there’s only one first and we are the granddaddy of them all just saying which one which sorority was first aka oh so the alphas and the akas are
The first yes and a case was founded at um at howard and you all were founded there were there were more of them founded at howard than anywhere yeah hbcus man well yeah but one was at morgan state i think i saw yeah that’s um and so there’s the divine nine but
There’s some other sororities and fraternities that are honorary members of the divine nine i don’t remember now that i don’t know about i don’t remember okay i saw maybe that was just on that particular campus yeah yeah but i mean i mean that the the divine nine are like they’re not exclusive like
Because you belong to a different greek organization you can’t hang this it’s nothing like that it’s just that we were you know pretty much foundational to this whole idea of greekdom you know and i i think you know i i i i can’t imagine what my life would be
Like if i had not pledged one of one of the things that pledging taught me was stability it taught me ability and reliance and accountability because i was reckless when i was in college cameron athlete of the physique major you know and i you know i mean i was a
Loose candidate but when i pledged it literally reshaped the way i understood not only what it meant to be a man but to be a man that belonged to a fraternity that was worldwide what did that mean every time i walked into a room with black and golden what did that say
And that literally challenged me to be my best self and you know that is a wonderful thing that these organizations have done and i salute you and your organization for being the first i salute all of the other ones who have played such a vital role in our community and continue to play
A vital role i salute our vice president-elect kamala harris and just excited to see how this is going to help um bring the organizations to the forefront even more but also helping them to see a greater role that they can play in the larger community not just in the bowl
Of those who wear the colors those who wear the letters um i hope that as we’re seeing this among these organizations that we as a people will start to feel that again yeah about who we are and and that that permeate permeates uh throughout the community in our homes
And help us to understand the responsibility that is incumbent upon us to share our stories at the table at the family reunion if you’re watching this and the holidays coming up give books as gifts yeah absolutely and not only not only give books as gifts take the time to read them to children
And you know we have everybody’s doing zoom now and it just gave me an idea um i can call up some of my little nieces and nephews and actually read to them over zoom now that’s right absolutely isn’t that special absolutely and i i think that i think that
Kovit has caused us to become a lot more creative about a number of different ways of engaging and communicating with one another yes you know i think that that you have to really be in a good space to stay in the house with a woman or a man or whomever your
Significant other is for three months and not use your mind you know and we i mean we we’ve learned to adjust and so the things that may have been taken for granted before becoming essential to your to your very existence yeah it does it does yeah well doc yes
I was reading i’m sorry could you tell us a little distracted and there was something hanging on my glass i wanted to make sure it wasn’t like a little spider or a bug or something i didn’t want to have to leave you [Laughter] right hey julius rosenwald mr rosenwald a jewish man patterned
With booker partner i’m sorry with booker t washington and built over 5 000 schools for blacks in 16 southern cities it’s a good time for blacks to build for blacks libraries full of black historical information that would be great absolutely and and you all have events where you invite other people
Have gone to you don’t have to be a member of your organization for you all to take our money at the door right no no no we’ll take your money anytime you want to give it up i know i know i know i know i know you
Know you know what’s so cool about it right and i have and i could be wrong but i’m probably not when one of the divine nine gives an event and we take your money and we say we want to do something with that money we do what we said we’re going to do
Excellent i give you i’ll give you a little known um history fact did you know that hubert humphrey was an honorary alpha i did not know that yes he was well how about that how about that see see are you ready well this is this is uh um very these
Are very exciting times these are also some praying times as we are in the midst of a transition that we are prayerful about how that’s going to happen and praying for the leadership that is currently there that hearts will be softened and that all of those all those that everybody will come
Together as uh president-elect joe biden said this is not about red states or blue states it’s about the united states 100 and i think that um i think that there are a lot of people especially those who voted for president-elect they’re serious about trying to build community
Yeah but says there are those who are serious about it there are those who were not yeah yeah and let’s not be blindsided that some people just don’t want to be in community well we will lift them up in prayer as well nothing too hard for god dr rick stevenson thank you for
Your contributions tonight for the timbuktu report where our goal is to inform enlighten and encourage we will be back here next thursday we’re over a little bit somebody must think that you’re already off the air so tell them i said hello i’m gonna do it it’s my son he’s not watching
You watch on facebook he’s in morgan i mean he’s in baltimore yeah we go live in baltimore too yeah i gotta call him back for all of you all who are watching we thank you for watching and hope you will join us on mondays at seven o’clock for our sisters of wellness
Show and uh continue to do great things in your own way we all have greatness in us let’s show it until next time for the entire crew at the timbuktu report i’m pamela marshall we thank you so much for joining us we’ll see you next time have a good one
There is healing at the well
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