Guru Hari Prabodh Swami Maharaj #hariprabodham #swaminarayan
>>> TOMORROW, ONE WORLD TRADE. THE BANK OF AMERICA BUILDING AT BRYANT PARK AND 151 WEST 42nd STREET WILL ALL BE LIT UP IN BLACK AND OLD GOLD IN HONOR OF ALPHA FRATERNITY INCORPORATED. >> IT IS ONE OF THE SO-CALLED
DIVINE NINE. A GROUP OF FIVE AFRICAN AMERICAN FRATERNITIES AND FOUR SORORITIES. JOINING US LIVE TO TALK ABOUT ALL OF IT IS LARRY BLACKMAN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK ASSOCIATION OF CHAPTERS OF ALPHA. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US, LARRY, WE
APPRECIATE IT. >> GOOD MORNING, DOUG, ANDREA, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME THIS MORNING. >> OF COURSE, TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE MILESTONE THAT YOU ARE CELEBRATING. >> THE FRATERNITY WAS FOUNDED AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY ON
DECEMBER 4, 1906. GOOD WILL IS THE MONARCH OF OUR HOUSE. AND WE ARE THE FIRST BLACK GREEK LETTER ORGANIZATION FOUNDED. SO EVERY YEAR ON DECEMBER 4, WE CELEBRATE WHAT WE CALL FOUNDER’S DAY, WHICH IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO THANK THE
FOUNDERS OF OUR FRATERNITIES. SEVEN MEN WE REFER TO AS THE JEWELS. >> AND CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE SERVICE PROJECTS AND THE MISSION AND WHAT THIS PART OF YOUR LIFE MEANS ON A DAILY BASIS? >> ABSOLUTELY. THE MODEL OF OUR
FRATERNITY IS SERVANTS OF ALL. WE SHALL TRANSCEND ALL. AND WE HAVE SEVERAL PROGRAMS THAT WE UTILIZE NATIONALLY, INTERNATIONALLY, WE ARE AN INTERNATIONAL FRATERNITY. SOME OF THOSE PROGRAMS INCLUDE OUR BROTHERS KEEPER PROGRAM, WHERE WE TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE
LOOKING OUT FOR OUR SENIOR BROTHERS AND THEIR SPOUSES, LOVED ONES AND THEIR FAMILIES. ENACTED IN THE 1930s, AT A TIME WHERE THERE WERE POLL TAXES AND OTHER METHODS USED TO DISENTRAIN CHEESE PEOPLE OF COLOR. GO TO HIGH SCHOOL, GO TO COLLEGE, WHICH IS ANOTHER
PROGRAM WE PRIDE OURSELVES IN. CURRENTLY IN NEW YORK, WE HAVE A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. WE ARE IN SCHOOLS. OUR CHAPTERS ARE DOING PHENOMENAL WORK. WE HAVE COLLEGE CHAPTERS AND ALUMNI
CHAPTERS. OUR FRATERNITY WAS STARTED ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES. SO WE ARE WORKING EXTRAORDINARILY HARD TO TRY AND INCREASE THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS OF COLOR GOING TO COLLEGE CAMPUSES. AND LASTLY, WE HAVE PROJECT ALPHA, WHERE WE WORK WITH TEENS TO
TALK ABOUT SEXUAL EDUCATION. HEALTH, AND PREPARING THEM FOR THE NEXT STAGES OF THEIR LIVES. >> LARRY, YOU TOUCHED ON IT, BLACK GREEK LIFE IN GENERAL IS NOT JUST ABOUT COLLEGE. THERE ARE SO MANY ALUMNI CHAPTERS. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE
OF ALL OF THIS WITHIN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY? >> ABSOLUTELY. WHAT WE SAY IS THAT COLLEGE DAYS SWIFTLY PASS, AS WE KNOW WE GO TO COLLEGE, IT’S ALMOST LIKE A BLUR. THANKFULLY, THROUGH THE FRATERNITY. THEY COME INTO AN
ALUMNI COLLEGE. OUR ALUMNI CHAPTERS ARE FLOURISHING. WE HAVE MANY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. IF YOU THINK ABOUT SOME OF THE POWERFUL MEMBERS WE HAVE THAT ARE ASSOCIATED. THAT ARE DOING GREAT WORK, LIKE MARYLAND GOVERNOR WESTMORE. DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING. THESE ARE BROTHERS THAT ARE AFFILIATED IN THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY, NOT JUST WITH ALPHA INTERNATIONALLY, BUT WITH THEIR LOCAL CHAPTERS. WE BELIEVE IN A GRASS ROOTS APPROACH, TOUCHING PEOPLE. LAST NIGHT, WE CELEBRATED FOUNDER’S DAY OUT IN FREE PORT LONG
ISLAND. WE’RE DOING GREAT WORK. WE ARE EXTRAORDINARILY PROUD. OF ALL THE GREEK LIFE. BECAUSE ALL THROUGHOUT THE WAYS PEOPLE HELP, YOU WILL FIND PEOPLE WHO ARE MEMBERS OF GREEK LIFE. >> AND THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT AS
PART OF THIS DIVINE NINE. IS THERE A SENSE THAT WHEN YOU GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE, YOU HAVE SUPPORT FOR LIFE? AND IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU’VE HAD TO LEAN ON IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE? WHETHER IT’S AT GOOD TIMES OR
BAD, WHEN YOU NEED SOMEONE TO LEAN ON. >> ABSOLUTELY. GATHERING IS WHAT WE ARE DOING TOMORROW, WHERE WE ARE CELEBRATING THE WRITING OF THREE BUILDINGS IN NEW YORK CITY. I JUST HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, THANK THE ORGANIZATION FOR PARTNERING
WITH THIS. THOSE ARE WAYS THAT WE COME TOGETHER TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER. SO PERSONALLY, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, DOUG, I AM A PROSTATE CANCER SURVIVOR. I AM AN ADVOCATE FOR PROSTATE CANCER SCREENINGS AND IT WAS THE BROTHERS OF ALPHA PHI
ALPHA, WHEN I WENT PUBLIC WITH MY STORY. SO MANY REACHED OUT AND SAID, HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR. AND TWO, THERE ARE SO MANY MEN WHO SUFFERED IN SILENCE THAT WHEN I WENT FORWARD, THERE WERE MANY BROTHERS OF ALPHA,
LEADERSHIP DOWN, WHO SAID, I’M GOING THROUGH THIS AND I HAVEN’T TALKED TO MY FAMILY. WE LEAN ON EACH OTHER. ONE PERSON I’D LIKE TO MENTION IS ROBERT SMITH. THROUGH HIS PARTNERSHIP AND HIS WORK IN PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT, HAS BEEN ABLE TO
SCREEN HUNDREDS, IF NOT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. SO THAT’S THE TYPE OF BENEFIT THAT THE NETWORK BRINGS. THAT’S THE TYPE OF BENEFIT THAT THE BROTHERHOOD BRINGS. WE KNOW WHEN YOU’RE GOING THROUGH MOMENTS OF SORROW AND TRIAL, YOU CAN LEAN ON THE
SHOULDER OF AN ALPHA MAN, AND SIMILARLY WITH OTHER GREEK ORGANIZATIONS, FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES ALIKE. >> INSPIRING THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS AS WELL. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US THIS MORNING. WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. >> THANKS, LARRY. >> THANK YOU FOR BRINGING
ATTENTION AND HAVE A BLESSED DAY. >> YOU, TOO. >> TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT LARRY
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