Thank you Well good afternoon and welcome to this edition of uh black table talk my name is Katrina Bailey I’ll be your facilitator for today’s conversation currently I serve as an executive director in the office of school leadership as an elementary executive director for Austin ISD and today I am representing Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority
Incorporated founded on January 15 1908 and then I want to go around and provide an opportunity for the rest of the members here at our table to introduce themselves and I’m going to start to my right hello my name is Gregory Harrington I am the President of gamma 8 Atlanta chapter of
Which is the Austin alumni chapter of alpha file Fraternity Incorporated um I work at Dell so that’s the Phrase That Pays uh I’m in marketing right now but my degree is technical so my degree is computer science so I’ve been uh with Dell for I guess 18 19 years and uh
Happy to be here good afternoon my name is Danita Caldwell and I am a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated founded January 13 1913. I work here at the district I am the director of the historically underutilized Business program and what that means is for your
Student for the students in the audience all of the changes that are happening to your schools in terms of construction and modernization and all of those things my department ensures that there is equity in the Contracting space so that we have minority and women-owned businesses that have the opportunity to build those schools
Good afternoon my name is Shakira Hamilton Adams I work at Austin ISD I work in the human capital Department in employee experience and sustainability and what that means is I work with work with teachers to ensure that we sustain and retain them in our district to provide excellent education to our
Students I am a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated founded in 1913. good afternoon my name is Monique Jones I am representing the organization of Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated founded on the campus of Howard University on January 16 in the great year of 1920.
Um we are a very proud organization that I joined uh the Omega gamma chapter are currently served in as a member of the pow Omega graduate chapter in Round Rock I serve as a supervisor in human capital leadership development where I support recruitment for leaders as well as supporting our pipelines and development
Of leaders my name is Melvin Bedford I’m the proud principal of Austin High School I’m representing Phi Beta signal Fraternity Incorporated founded January 9 1914 at Howard University my name is Rodney green I’m a parent of this school district had a kid go here I’m also Reagan Raider I played in state
Championship game I was the last we’re the last people from Austin and played in the top division to play for the state championship in football from Austin uh I represent the Omega sci-fi the first black fraternity founded at a black University Howard November 17 1911. I do want to talk a
Talking and for our students and the students in the audience how many of you have heard of Howard University in Washington DC how many of you have plans of attending Howard University okay so Howard University for those who don’t know is as a historic what we call a historically black
University and so it’s it’s founded for the purpose of specifically serving um the black community of course anyone can attend and and that’s true of all of our hbcus what we call historically back colleges and universities but the reason why I specifically talk about Howard is because Howard really does have a
Special place in all of our work in most of our organizations in that most of our organizations did receive their founding or did start their founding at Howard University Alpha Kappa Alpha sorting T incorporated as I told you January 15 1908 in minor Hall make sure that that I do say that
Um but I do want to go back to the question and I’m going to pose this to to Mr Bedford over here Dr Bedford and Dr Medford over here is why the Divine mind what made you choose to join uh a divine nine organization out of all of
The organizations you could have joined why well the I had a lot of Greek representation in my family as well as in the church my church home growing up Unfortunately they were all deltas and omegas and going into college that’s what my mother wanted me to be she
Wanted me to be an Omega but I I connected um with the boys in blue Phi Beta signal Fraternity Incorporated I also you know I I also understood because I was raised by by Greeks I also understood that overall we had the same Mission I mean I knew that that mission
Was not just to uplift the black community but also provides service and uplift the culture I want to come to you and ask you what is the Divine what does the Divine mind do to elevate the black community or the black experience so when I think
About the divine nine I take it all the way to the beginning and one of the conversations that was centered when the students I think the first group was talking about safe spaces and coming together and having a safe space and so we are all grounded in all of our
Organizations we’re also built around just coming together to have a safe space you know at a time where we were being ostracized at a time where you know we were being excluded you know from everything right so um for me what it means is upliftment um that Sisterhood coming together and
Just creating resources for our organizations but what I will say also um is that it’s important that if you’re looking to join an organization no matter what it is whether it’s a Divine line organization or anything that you’re you’re looking to get into that really you get into it for the right
Reasons because because what we do expect is lifelong active membership and whatever that looks like for you it looks like for you and it looks different for different people but we do expect that if you join that it’s lifelong active membership elevating the black experience it’s it’s
More than just the members getting the elevation it’s also the community because that’s what we were founded for and I know you see us doing a lot of talking we’re joking and laughing and you we kind of kind of what we call jig at each other if you will but we do that
In just because the the piece of being a part of the divine nine was to elevate those that did not have because we actually stand when you look at the work that that the Divine mind has done what we do for the community you’ve heard the statement standing on the shoulders of
Giants there are giants that said we we sit here standing on the shoulders of giants that came before her before us we have our Shirley chisholms we have our Kamala harrises we have our our doctor um Thurgood Marshall we have all of these different people that have come
Before us and they’ve LED in so much work and then it’s our responsibility as we go to give a little bit of that I think I mentioned why I pledge A5 uh just want to be associated with the great minds uh leaders of our world and
Um and when I was on the j-state campus I think the the vibe was a fire um so um and I guess one of the questions that may come to your mind maybe why would you join a Greek organization and I think it’s just a matter of uh just
Being able to be part of something greater than yourself I think it’s the the main thing all work control the similar cause our ours we say uh mainly these scholarship and Love For All Mankind and so when I think about my why I know that Zeta was for me
I dealt with a lot of adversity because people would say you want to be a Zeta you want to play it SATA Zetas don’t throw good parties all Zetas are not known you don’t you should want to be a Delta you should want to be this you
Need to get off of the front because I’m the facilitator you move to the side but that’s okay because guess what we saved the best for life Let’s go [Applause] You know You you you know
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