I am dr latonya goffny proud superintendent of aldine isd and a proud member of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated this month aldine isd is celebrating black history and black excellence throughout the month we recognize those who have come before us those who planted the trees that created the shade we enjoy
We honor the work the fight the innovation the change and the legacy of african americans i believe that education is a great equalizer i was a first generation college student and i had great educators in my life who encouraged me to apply for college education gave me access to
Opportunities that i may have never dreamed possible can you imagine education not being available to you based on the color of your skin for nearly 200 years historically black colleges and universities hbcus have been the foundation of education and advocacy for black americans their educational offerings show the black
Community that they can dream bigger in their professional aspirations similarly black greek letter organizations were founded to provide black college students a safe space and community while facing adversity and injustice although although i did not attended hbcu becoming a member of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated was one of the
Best decisions i could have ever made each member of the divine nine share the goal of making a difference in our communities we are our ancestors wildest dreams as we reflect this month remember to take advantage of the opportunities you are afforded greetings i am felicia m nave and i have
The pleasure of serving as the 20th president of all corn state university alcorn state university is located in southwest mississippi where we serve over 3 000 students who are attracted from nearly all of mississippi counties 34 states and 24 countries providing them a transformative educational experience
It is a tremendous opportunity to be a president at any institution but it’s a distinct pleasure to serve at an institution as a historically black college and university that has such a strong legacy and tradition of serving students who’ve been marginalized underrepresented who didn’t have access and opportunity so it elates my heart
To be able to continue amongst those leaders across our country who’ve provided the leadership the guidance the transformation in order to make this country a better place and bring educational opportunities to those who may not have an opportunity it’s especially a wonderful opportunity because alcorn state university is my
Alma mater to be able to come back and lead an institution with such a storied history that has meant so much to so many that includes myself and my family is tremendous it’s fantastic it’s absolutely awesome to be afforded such a humbling opportunity to continue to build on such a strong legacy Alcorn state university has a tremendous history and legacy of educating students who made their mark and had a significant impact across not only this great nation but across the world we’ve graduated students who hold key positions as scientists as medical doctors in dentistry in the media entertainment sports civil
Rights just to name a few so as we look toward the future of alcorn state university it is my goal to help transform and elevate the experience of our students to broaden our visibility to expand on the tradition of excellence that is known as alcorn state university
We are an excellent university as we continue to grow and expand our experience and our footprint we’re moving from excellence to preeminence amongst hbcus and among institutions of higher learning in general it is important to us that our students have a transformative experience that prepares them not just for careers today but for
Careers for the future Before your time there was a saying the future is so bright i gotta wear shades and i would use that to describe what the future looks like for hbcus we are uniquely positioned at a point in time where our roles and the importance of the educational access and opportunity
That we provide is more relevant than ever so our future as hbcus is one that’s a shooting star and i anticipate and expect that you will see more students selecting and choosing hbcus not just for their academics but also for sports for get their career started hbcus are the place to be Education is the vehicle to upward mobility it’s important that you continue to focus on doing a good job in your studies getting good grades participating in various activities whether that’s in sports student council rotc because they help to develop you as a full well-rounded individual and as
You begin to look for what you’re going to do next and i know that that’s a big scary thing because life itself can be scary but with the preparation with communication such as this with doing some homework you can prepare yourself to be ready i too was sitting in the seat that you’re
Sitting in right now and i didn’t always know what it was that i wanted to do what i wanted to major in where i was going to go to college such big decisions but there were people who were in my life like my teachers my counselors my parents who
Were very instrumental in helping you make sure that i had access to information and helped me make some of those decisions and so when it came time to select the college of course my family politely drove me on down the road to the institution that helped to make them
That prepared them to go out into the world and to be successful in their careers if it was good enough for my parents and their friends and several of my teachers and i knew how good of a job they’d done it preparing me then it was definitely worth trying so
When i got here on the campus of alcorn state university that by the way i came to quite a bit as a child it was a remarkable experience i got to meet new people i got to be poured into and developed by teachers from all around the world
People who cared about me as a person not a number not sitting in huge classes but individuals teachers staff who were willing to take the time to get to know me felicia the person what my hopes my dreams my aspirations were and as they learned about me i trusted the
Advice and the guidance that they provided it did not steer me wrong based on the foundation that i received here at alcorn state university i’ve been able to achieve all of the career goals that i’ve set for myself a little girl from a small town in jeff davis county called apprentice
Mississippi has been all around the world have presented in all kinds of places to professionals i’ve been to congress i’ve testified all of it started right here at alcorn state university uh hbcu and so for all of those of you who are thinking first whether or not even completing your
Education and going to college well it makes a difference and it matters i tell you it absolutely does it is the right choice choosing a hbcu is that a good choice absolutely because in coming to this environment you will be interacting with engage with and come into contact with people who truly care
About you and who are looking toward helping you develop and grow and become the best you that you can be i live a great life and it all started here at alcorn state university [Applause] A for alabama state university established in 1867 in montgomery alabama being the dune cookman university established in 1904 in daytona beach florida c clark atlanta university established in 1865 in atlanta georgia Gillard university established in 1869 in new orleans louisiana e for edward waters college established in 1866 in jacksonville florida handle your business f is for florida agricultural and mechanical university also known as famu established on october the 3rd 1887 in tallahassee florida g for the grambling state university established november
1st 1901 in grambling louisiana h for hampton university established in 1868 in hampton virginia H for howard university the real hq established in 1867 washington dc who is the real hu i for interdenominational theological center established in 1958 in atlanta georgia j is for jarvis christian college home of the bulldogs k for kentucky state university established in 1866 in frankfurt kentucky L for lincoln university established january 14 1866 in jefferson city missouri m for miles college established in 1898 in fairfield alabama n for north carolina’s central university established july 5th 1910 in durham north carolina oh for oakwood university established 1896 in huntsville alabama p for paul quinn college established april
4th 1872 in dallas texas q question have you ever thought about attending a hbcu hmm r for rust college established 1866 in holy springs mississippi where tomorrow’s leaders are students today s in is in atlanta georgia spelman college a choice to change the world t is for tennessee state university
Established in 1912 in nashville tennessee U is for the university of the virgin islands in saint thomas and sinclair established in 1962. V for vorhees college established in 1924 in denmark south carolina before his college begin believe become w for wilberforce university established in 1856 in wilberforce ohio x for xavier university of louisiana established in 1925 in new orleans louisiana why in z i can’t think of any wire z-scores it’s fine
Hey guys marcus here i have the opportunity and the pleasure today to speak with you about the marching arts within hbcu programs here in the united states now if you don’t know what an hbcu is it just stands for historically black college or university all of these were established before the civil rights
Act of 1964. now even though most hbcu marching band programs have a very distinct and personal identity to their styles now when they first started off the style was very militaristic and it was very reminiscent of the military bands that were already present within that day
The first band we’re going to check out here today is the wonderful band at tuskegee university now tuskegee is credited for having the first marching band program of any hbcu out there let’s check them out so the power the passion the precision is off the charts with these groups and
It’s so fun to to get to see the energy um of of which they perform their their repertoires is truly a wonderful thing that you should see live now this next university touches me personally um and i’m talking about the wonderful florida a m university now their music program
Has produced some of the best jazz musicians some of the best solo artists out there and that also includes a personal connection of mine mr alfred watkins now he is known for being one of the best high school directors and overall musicians and and music teachers in the nation
He’s a direct product of florida a m university he’s an alumni there and and he has taught many many years here before he retired in georgia at lassiter high school which is known for having one of the best music programs in the nation check out florida a m university [Applause] So One of the things you might also notice is that within the culture that’s that’s surrounded um within hbcus is they’re very in touch uh with with just the cutting edge songs you’ll notice that a song will come out and then they’ll immediately be playing that song on that very next friday
For their audience and it’s almost like magic how quickly they learn their repertoire so they have a very a very concise and intimate knowledge with the culture that’s on the street around them and and the heartbeat of the people that they serve check out this piece from grambling university So If you want to talk about hbcus and you want to talk about bands you have to give the drumline some love i’m a percussionist myself and even when i was a little kid i loved that my parents when we would go to the games at fort valley state university would let me
Leave them even as a little kid to go sit beside the drum line and just that power and how it would shake my little ribs gave me a passion that has lasted a lifetime even up until now so let’s check out a few drum lines this is the wonderful and precise drumline of
Bethune cookman university [Applause] wonderful now for something way different so even within the style of hbcu marching bands and drum lines there there are plenty of different little pockets there’s plenty of different little conferences and the ways that people play check out alabama a m So Okay okay one more one more this is one of my favorite the the precision the cleanness of the group the cohesiveness of their stick heights and everything this is north carolina a t state university check them out So Oh man that is that’s nice so i highly encourage you at a certain point in order to get the full experience um to go out to a game to sit get some nachos bring a little butt pad and and just enjoy the marching bands the the the inner play going back and
Forth the the idea of of a battling type competition and then of course the spectacle of of hearing some of the freshest charts seeing beautiful dance moves that are executed with precision and power during the halftime show is just a wonderful thing and you have to
Be inside of that energy inside of the stadium to experience that for yourself the videos really don’t do it justice so i’m glad that i got a chance to present a lot of these colleges for you here today now something that’s very passionate to my heart is what happens
To students in order to elevate them to these wonderful and distinguished colleges and universities it’s what happens before then that ends up making these programs successful and right here in georgia i’d like to make you aware of a few different programs you can donate to or give maybe some of your time and
Resources to that consistently send wonderful students to these colleges and universities the first one i want to make you aware of is created to play they’re based out of augusta georgia and they consistently train people in in the marching arts and they’ve sent a plenty of people out to
Some of these hbcus and they sure are prepared and they show up ready to take on the next generation of leadership check them out up next is the wonderful atlanta drum academy they’re out of atlanta and once again they consistently train students of all ages all the way up through
College age to just become wonderful human beings great life lessons through the art of playing drums and they send plenty of people to these hbcus and other colleges all throughout the united states they are under the direction of james riles who had major parts in both of the drumline
Movies you might have seen maybe one of those but the kids here have made multiple national appearances on tv and they continuously have performances throughout the community here in atlanta and in plenty of other states check them out That was wonderful so once again i thank you for spending a little bit of your day with me here today and if you have any questions about any of these things you can definitely google anything about hbcu drum lines you can send an email to any of the directors in
Your local area to ask how you can be of assistance they’re always looking for of course support with hiring instructors with getting equipment rehearsal spaces and all of those types of things and of course the best way to experience any of this is
Just to go out to a game go out to a battle of the bands go to a competition and experience the sounds the power and the precision for yourself see you guys [Applause] um is So um So so so one Ladies and gentlemen Uh Ladies and gentlemen so So So So So It’s Oh um oh this one so so Hello my name is terence robinson and i am a member of the first intercollegiate organization for african americans alpha phi alpha fraternity incorporated alpha phi alpha fraternity incorporated was founded on december 4th 1906 on the campus of cornell university located in ithaca new york being a member of a greek letter
Organization means that you are in fine company some of the most influential and impactful individuals in this nation’s history are members of divine nine organizations some of our famous members are dr martin the king jr dr w e b dubois judge thurgood marshall and frederick douglass specifically
In aldine there are two schools named after some of my prestigious fraternity brothers blanson cte high school is named for dr archie blanson and greg’s primary named after the late merlin griggs senior my high school principal mr david alexander inspired me to be an alpha although he never boasted or bragged
About being a member he led by example i wanted to be the type of leader that mr alexander displayed daily in the fraternity his example has led me to serving as a chapter president district director for the state of texas and as a 23rd southwestern regional vice
President which means that i had the opportunity and honor to serve as a national board member the aims of alpha phi alpha fraternity incorporated are manly deeds scholarship and love for all mankind i pledge to live and promote these consistently through my actions volunteerism and philanthropic efforts
There will always be a place enrolled for black greek letter organizations although our organizations have different names and colors we all strive to improve our local communities and provide a voice for the voiceless [Applause] for more than a century black greek organizations have made their voices heard on college campuses and in
Communities across the country the founders of these organizations they understood that the pathway forward for us was together through unity house democratic caucus chair hakeem jeffries joined kappa alpha psi fraternity at the age of 18. and it really was the first time in my life that anyone of importance
And authority suggested to me that they saw some leadership qualities and attributes uh within me and it’s a moment that i’ve never forgotten moments like that shared by many in the divine nine the nine black sororities and fraternities that comprise the national panhellenic council vice president kamala harris has
Been outspoken about the impact her sorority has had on her and along the way you find people who help you become your true self for me that was my beloved alpha kappa alpha sisters in an election cycle marked by historic first it’s hard to ignore the role these organizations have played
Georgia elected its first black senator and america sent a black woman to the white house both members of the divine nine when i look at what alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated and other members of the divine nine are doing now we’re seeing that they are dedicated to voter education mobilization and
Participation we’re also seeing that even during a pandemic the service never stops ground breakers and trailblazers have always in so many different ways been connected to the black fraternity and sorority organizations including the great shirley chisholm who was a proud member of the delta sigma data sorority i have always been a catalyst
For change the founders of these organizations they perhaps could never have envisioned that one day we would ascend to the highest levels of power and authority in the land including within the congress and now the white house but i certainly know they dreamed it and believed that they were laying a
Foundation for great things to occur but because of my hbcu and divine nine family i know i’m never the only person who looks like me or has had my life experiences even today we are 113 years after our founding that is a strong legacy and we’re still
Able to see the ways in which the united states does not treat all of its citizens equally have they gotten better definitely they have definitely improved from where they were 113 years ago but can they be improved also yes we are passionate about the same issues within our communities within the world
At large and we work together in order to achieve common goals and if that isn’t family i don’t know what is a family that will remain rooted behind members as they embark on their barrier breaking journeys month long we are celebrating black history at wcnc charlotte this week we
Continue our discussion on education we’ve been highlighting historically black colleges and universities greek organizations are a big part of the culture at hbcus wcnc charlotte’s aisha scott has the story from johnson c smith university the history of black greek letter organizations like the one i’m a part of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated
Dates back to the early 1900s when african-american students were excluded from greek organizations on predominantly white campuses black sororities and fraternity works were created on the basis of exclusion right at some point um there were a group of black men who were trying to be part of organization and they needed votes
One white vote meant they couldn’t be a part of the organization so they decided to start their own leland howard is the president of the national panhellenic council of charlotte an organization that brings all nine black greek letter organizations together for one common cause we are able to work together to
Ensure that there’s change in the community we work together to ensure that policies and social policies are being pushed alpha phi alpha fraternity incorporated is the first black greek letter fraternity founded in 1906 at cornell university alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated is the first black greek letter sorority founded on the
Campus of howard university in 1908 also called the divine nine these sororities and fraternities were founded on the principle of service and it’s a value that is still upheld to this day we’re out of the community we’re helping with voter education we’re only helping with healthcare education um homelessness you
Know we’re feeding the homeless we’re out collecting supplies over the years african americans have joined black greek letter organizations for a variety of reasons i turned to a few of my colleagues to find out their why my mother and my aunts are all members of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated
And my uncle is a member of omega sci-fi so growing up i saw the service i saw them being dedicated to giving back to their community my stepdad’s member of outside so that’s all i ever knew that’s all he ever told me about the sigma was like
They helped me move in they kind of like showed to me they guided me so it just in my head i was like well if i was to ever you know play it would be probably that because i mean that’s what stood out to me the most they kind of
Adopted me as a little brother who came in as a freshman and i just admired the respect that they they demanded from the team and the respect that they got on campus and it was something that i wanted to be a part of a part of organizations that often felt underestimated we enjoy
Being underestimated because when we walk into spaces and and people have doubted us we’re showing beyond compare that we’re ready we’re excited and and that we we have been leading for a long time it’s just a matter of other people recognizing how great we are reporting in charlotte i’m
Aisha scott for wcnc charlotte [Applause] i have to get about my house i had to leave i’m gone had to go out on my own i had to show i’m gone had to pay for all of this i had to take a loan but how was home coming made me feel i came home Don’t you want to go to a place in your life where everyone around you look just like you stars around sounding bright surrounded by black or you won’t stay You don’t have to be a token you’re not defined by frequency notion love your life drink your potion you can’t be who you want to be in this place safe from the hierarchy or eight black folks from around the world in one location vacation to winston-salem and prairie
View langston dylan and csu ali college and vsu The sweetest Hmm So You
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