TIME NOW IS…. KENNEDY: HERE AT FOX 18 NEWS WE’RE HONORING BLACK HISTORY. THIS MORNING WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT BLACK GREEK LIFE. JOINING A FRATERNITY OR SORORITY CAN BE A BIG PART OF THE COLLEGE YEARS. BUT NINE HISTORICALLY BLACK SORORITIES AND FRATERNITIES GO BEYOND THE TYPICAL UNDERGRAD EXPERIENCE. THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE
REFERRED TO AS THE “DIVINE NINE.” THEY PROVIDE SERVICE, SCHOLARSHIP, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND A SENSE OF BELONGING FOR A LIFETIME. FOX 18’S SIERRA SEARCY AND I EXPLAIN THE “DIVINE NINE” AND THEIR ROLE IN THE QUAD CITIES. “I’VE CROSSED THE BURNING SANDZ OF DELTA SIGMA THETA 35 YEARS AGO” “A LIFELONG DREAM
OF MINE” “OUTSTANDING LEADERS, SCIENTIST, EDUCATORS…ASTR ONAUTS IN THEIR FIELDS” THE DIVINE NINE—A LEGACY— SISTERHOOD– BROTHERHOOD– COMPOSED OF NINE HISTORICALLY BLACK ORGANIZATIONS DATING BACK TO 1906. “IT GOES PAST THE UNDERGRADUATE YEARS” FOR MOST BEING A PART OF A SORORITY OR FRATERNITY IN COLLEGE–STOPS AFTER GRADUATION “IF THERE WAS A WAY
POSSIBLE FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO BECOME APART OF THE ORGANIZATION I WAS GOING TO DO WHAT I COULD TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT AND I WAS GOING TO DO SO” SO WHAT EXACTLY IS THE DIVINE NINE? IT IS COMPRISED OF ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, KAPPA ALPHA PSI FRATERNITY,
OMEGA PSI PHI FRATERNITY, DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY,PHI BETA SIGMA FRATERNITY, ZETA PHI BETA SORORITY, SIGMA GAMMA RHO SORORITY, IOTA PHI THETA FRATERNITY, “A GREAT HONOR TO BE ABLE TO WEAR THESE LETTERS” “WE ARE MEN OF COLOR, WE HAVE DEGREE’S WE ARE PROFESSIONALS, WE HAVE FAMILIES, WE ARE ROLE MODELS” FOR DECADES THE DIVINE
NINE HAS BEEN A PILLAR IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY—- PROVIDING SERVICE— SCHOLARSHIP–AND MOST IMPORTANLY A SENSE OF BELONING. “SISTERHOOD IS JUST LIKE A SECOND FAMILY. THEIR WITH YOU FOREVER” SOME NOTABLE MEMBERS OF THE DIVINE NINE YOU MAY KNOW…. VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER MARTIN LUTHER KING JR, COMEDIAN STEVE HARVEY, AND
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER SHIRLEY CHISSOLM “SO MANY ROLE MODELS ACROSS THE WORLD TO LOOK UP TO IS SOMETHING THAT IS AMAZING AND INSPIRING TO BE APART OF” THEIR PRESENCE GOES BEYOND NOTARIETY—OVER OF THE PAST YEAR THE DIVINE NINE HAS GIVEN OUT MILLIONS IN SCHOLARSHIPS— EVEN RIGHT HERE IN THE QUAD CITY AREA THE
DIVINE NINE THAT ARE LOCATED IN THE QUAD CIITES…WE KNOW WERE HERE” “40 YEARS OF HAVING A PRESENCE IN THE QUAD CITITES” “NOT ONLY DO I REPRESENT THIS ORGANIZATION I REPRESENT THIS COMMUNITY” PARK CLEAN UPS— VOTER REGISTRATION— FOOD DRIVES AND COLLEGE PREP ARE JUST A FEW OF THE MANY WAYS DIVINE
NINE IMPACTS THE QC COMMUNITY. “WE’RE REALLY ACTIVE IN THE AREA” “40 YEARS OF BEING A RESOURCE, BEING SUPPORT, JUST BEING A PILLAR IN OUR COMMUNITY” “THOSE ORGANIZATIONS ARE KINDA THE FEEDERS, THE BUILDING BLOCKS..YOU KNOW WHERE YOU GET YOUR TRAINING WHEELS IN ORDER TO GO BACK INTO YOUR COMMUNITY AND INSTILL ELADERSHIP”
KENNEDY: YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LOCAL DIVINE NINE CHAPTERS AT OUR QUAD CITIES DOT COM.
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