The grand basela role requires the characteristics of perseverance and resilience to advance the mission of our beloved fraternity for 112 years Guided by the Supreme bossless of the universe Omega leadership has furthered the purpose of the Omega Sci-Fi fraternity Incorporated Omega men were on the front lines as racial discrimination stood
Against black Americans in the United States during the 19th Century New Orleans Louisiana Grand bosis Dr Andrew a ray grew up during a traumatic time when he had to sit in the back of the bus or vacate a seat when a white passenger got on as I said the Civil Rights Movement was was heating up and uh we shut down
The campus uh and protest and as we shut down the campus um and the reason we shut down the campus because due to the prejudicial nature of the area uh what happened was um two of our students died on the way to the hospital because at Southern University both
Entrances had railroad tracks across and the train would park there and wouldn’t move and so the ambulance could not get them to to the hospital so four of our colleagues died so we had had enough and so we shut the campus down and um after we shut the campus
Down we asked the governor to we want an overpass over the tracks and I don’t maybe I’ll say this and but he told the president of the University he said tell them they ain’t getting no Bridge we continue to protect and Stokely carmichel came down to help us out and
So when Stokely came down and we really got going um I had a brilliant idea because they were still holding out said you know what why don’t we all register to go to LSU and so the word got back to the governor and to the president of LSU
That we were going to walk down the highway to register LSU by that afternoon we got a call from the governor’s office he said tell them they get their brids you know that’s that’s the way it came he said tell get that BRD and we got it so when I was down
There um a few years ago as Grand B I was talking to the young brothers and I asked them do you know how you got that that bridge list now I told them the story of how they how we got them to build that across the rail road tracks so it was a
Very interesting time but we were in he the civil rights movement during that time it was Miami Florida Grand bosis Dr Edward brayan Jr’s parents operated a grocery store for 30 years and describes his childhood as perfect because of the entrepreneurial spirit in the household all all he knew was ambition so he pursued higher education he represented the second Cardinal principal and earned
The degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery from Howard University in 1954 I practiced DST for about 25 30 Years Aberdine Mississippi Grand boses Dr David E Marian’s high school was integrated but internally segregated he was black student council president and black homecoming King but there also was a white student council president and white homecoming King and so when we got there in 1970 uh racism was still uh High
Um we had um I can remember in the middle of our town uh particularly on Wednesdays the whole uh downtown would shut down and it was still a practice in 1970 for it to shut down and the reason why was because it was customary throughout the times of slavery uh
During the times of hangings uh that they would do them on Wednesday and so the town had customarily just think about that all week long the town is open 8 to5 but on Wednesday it closed the whole thing closed down at noon and so it was that old custom of coming to
Town uh for a lynching and those kinds of Things Okala Florida Growing Up grand basist Dr dorsy Miller never lived in the same house with the same family members more than a year those circumstances never gave him a chance to bond with family it was his love for school that offered him stability strange thing happened I went
I was teaching American history and then I got a call from Brother McMillan Eris McMillan for him to interview for a job in Atlanta with the poverty program cuz he was one of the regional directors of that and Sergeant Tri was John Kennedy’s uh brother-in-law was the head man and
He was interviewing some candidates for a position some young guys Elis told me that there were 26 candidates and only one was black he wanted me to come and interview for that job as well that would give him two blacks and I went and they selected
Me uh for the I was one of the two that they selected Chicago Illinois due to what many would consider an upper middle class home life Grand bosis lyd J Jordan Esquire was harassed by some blacks for having more and at the same time he was discriminated against by wh because of the color of his skin from there I went to a place
Called finger high school and finger High School those people I went to school with a sh school got separated if you lived on one side of 115th Street which I talked about being a little bit more challenging to the side where we live and I don’t know if it’s by Design
But they made us go to another school called Finger High School which was across it was a mile away but that was in the white folks neighborhood which was another Battleground so you cross the Hostage Street you had to watch out for the battles because now you’re
Looking for the white folks back then who were trying to take out the black folks coming to their school wow so it was either we’re catching hell from our own folks or catching hell from the white folks because of where we Lived Bradington Florida Grand bosis Dr George H Grace was born in the richest county in the state and 13 professional players graduated with him all with college degrees he credits his high school principal for stressing education to advance the black race I heard uh Reverend Jackson speak J speak and just
I had a conversation in New York City one night at Rainbow push meeting we were sitting over had a private conversation and he was telling me about the three phases of equality and see you know we got the right to vote we got in uh integration and then you know we got
It uh um it’s one before that oh social you know we could go in place we want to go but until we get economic strength it’s not going to mean much and that was why a lot of people don’t understand that’s why Dr King got killed Dr King
Went away from the racial struggle to the economic struggle and one thing I know about America they don’t want to change the economic Outlook the people with the money and the power want to keep the money now if you got something to offer them they’ll sell you a pieace but you
Know you got to have the the the economic strength to do anything in this country we can stand up and go out I I tell I don’t even March anymore I don’t want to March I don’t want to demonstrate cuz if I demonstrate I’m going demonstrate with
Economic power and one of the things we need to look at and just look at what worked for Dr King okay now he got killed because he was starting to deal with some economic things but what is the single most uh I guess successful board we ever
Had the Birmingham bus when it shut those buses down it shut businesses down downtown and that fool that sheriff they had over there acting crazy them business say wait a minute we losing too much money you got to go and that’s the same way it is today
We a we have not moved that far away we have to understand our buying Power Cornelius North Carolina grand bosis Antonio F Knox senior grew up with a strong willed grandmother his grandparents moved him to a small town in North Carolina to teach him hard work values and the importance of family we stood for what was right one of the things that I did is when things were
Happening around the country with the police brutality when things were happening in the political aspect of voting rights and Criminal Justice Reform I wrote about it I stood up and made sure that people recognized that Omega was not going to be CED about things that matter and then when the
Things happened in Philadelphia with Starbucks and the the brothers was involved and and unfairly arrested adjusted we went I went to Philadelphia and went with Ben Crump and stood out and and supported those brothers and led a rally against that so I want people to to know that
During that time we worked together and we stood for what was right and we let people know and and other organizations recognized us for that and I think we’re willing to to come together to to work with us I’ll never forget that at the AF National Conference April Ryan was there and we
Talked about the divine nine legislative day which Omega L and she says wow with North Carolina being a Battleground State and what you all did there should be duplicated all around the country and so that was something positive that that we’re there at somebody else’s National but they’re recognizing in Omega for our
Leadership and talk about it should be something that’s duplicate around the country so good things happen by working Together Pensacola Florida Grand bosis Ricky L Lewis grew up in a two parent house hold with an emphasis on discipline he considers himself blessed to have his father as a man to model himself after and he hopes Omega men can have that type of impact on black male youth my commitment has
Always been dealing with young black boys um I’m on the board at the YMCA the W the Wine Guard YMCA in Los Angeles um just Los everybody know Los Angeles is the gang capital of the world so young black boys been wilding out in Los Angeles for many many years and just
Been actively working with with young men trying to encourage them to be better young men to be good Fathers and good husbands we started this thing called the youth leadership conference when Rodney King got beat up and the city was on fire the men of Omega
Decided to try to make an impact we grabbed a 100 young black boys and say hey man let’s get together and try to save these boys’ lives and then of course 30 years later we’ve been impacted the lives of 9,000 young black boys just encouraging to be good Fathers
Good husbands and be good citizens the role of grand bossless hisor ly position the fraternity as a Guiding Light for the aim of freedom and Equality N
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