I am on my way to Vegas in a few hours for the Black Librarian's Conference and  to take a very much needed  break. This past Sunday, I celebrated my 3rd Anniversary as pastor of the St. James CME Church. It warmed my hearts when two of my young brothers  from Alpha Rho Chapter at Morehouse surprised me and  drove the 1hour and 45 minutes to share with me on my anniversary and the church's 101st Anniversary. To Brother Seth Pickens(a neophyte and Historian) and Albert Sanders (No 25, off of the rechartering line and one who absorbs history), thanks for surprising me and supporting me. It meant a great deal to me! Now get to work and write that Alpha Rho history!  By the way,  my sermon topic was "What to Do After You Have Fallen  Seven Times?" Proverbs 24: 16 " A righteous man falls seven times and rises again." I kinda "worked the number Seven. For your information I was born in the seventh month on a day when multiplied is 2x7,  in the seven o'clock hour and was initiated into Alpha in the seven o'c clock hour too. JFK, jr, became the  seventh person in his family to die a tragic death. By the way Kennedy has seven letters...." 

I  also appreciate the presence of Brothers Walton, Harris, Coleman, White, Johnson, who assisted me with my program. 

Well,  the books will arrive this week! Can't wait! I am sure some of you can't either. Many of you have been with me since the beginning of this project. "In due season, you shall reap if you do not faint!" 

In this issue, I am featuring the comments of two guest columnist in  a continuous debate on the Talented Tenth dilemma in the fraternity for the 1990s. Many of you have been following the ongoing discussion.  I am sure you will find these points interesting. 

I look forward to sharing with you for my pre-convention issue of SHM on next Tuesday where I will feature all of the General Presidents Candidates. The men who want to take us to 2004.  Enjoy your week as I plan to enjoy mine. 
 

THE TALENTED TENTH OR 
THE UNTALENTED NINETIETH OF  ALPHA, 
THE DEBATE  CONTINUES... 

From Brother Buckley 
"FIRST OF ALL, Brothers, let's clarify that we are talking about two things here:  DuBois's notion of "the talented tenth" and Alpha Phi  Alpha.  And I suppose we're talking about a relationship between the  two as well.  To be clear, I am no Booker T. Washington.  And yes, I do love my Fraternity -- not naively, but with enough heart and  intelligence to accept it as a *lofty "ideal to conceive" AND a  *humble machine with the potential to impact-not control- the  destiny of Africans in America (as it has). 

I think I have been misunderstood.  Yes, while DuBois is very  specific about the "talented tenth" being doctors, lawyers, and other  "professionals," he also describes these creme de la creme as bearing  the responsibility and having the talents secure the "dream" for the  masses and uplift humanity.  I do NOT subscribe to this notion of  the "tenth" as DuBois describes or an elite that holds THE gifts to  secure anything for the masses.  Hence, I said in my last message  that "philosophically, the talented tenth is a *myth...."  I go on to say that "the 'talented tenth' *really are those people who GIVE their talents to all of humanity because they understand their responsibility to do so."  Given my statement that DuBois' idea is a  myth, I thought it would be understood that the successive   statements reflected my opinion of what/who the talented *should be. 

Still Alpha Phi Alpha has been greatly impacted by this "myth"-- and  without surprise, given the the time of the Fraternity's founding and  the type of men who breathed life into the organization (collegiate). If Alpha is the school for the better making of men, such a school  should produce doctors, lawyers, and other "professionals."  We  should note that America denied (and still does deny) our people's  ability to be professionals.  It was/is only right that Alpha challenges that notion.  And if the Fraternity is concerned with  acquiring wealth and/or upward mobility, so be it.  It is, after  all, one of the reasons you chose membership in this particular  organization ... and a goal of every young man who participates in a  capitalist society.  (We can all admit it if we take honest inventory  of our thoughts.)   But while the Fraternity promotes the success of  its members within society, it also seeks to transform each member to  be SERVANTS OF ALL.  Hence the marriage of two ideas:  that the  Fraternity seeks the most "talented" men  and that it reaffirms their  responsibility to 
uplift the race and humanity (via initiation). 

Now, that is ideally how Alpha Phi Alpha might be, embracing DuBois' "talented tenth" concept.  I don't know that is a reality at all. My point of consideration is that as we criticize the Fraternity for  it's activity in the community or lack thereof, we should understand  that it is not a universal organization capable of adjusting itself  to heroically save every ill that plagues  us (the masses).  And  to ask Alpha to do this *by itself is demanding and ambitious ... and  even naive.  There isn't a  single organization in the world capable of such a task, not even the church organization (and they have  Jesus!). Alpha cannot be all things to all people.   That is why we  are empowered to work individually wherever we are in the world and  hold it high.  [You'll find Alpha activity in various civic  organization and communities.] ** And as we look at what Alpha may  not be doing as an organization, can we take some time to give thought to what it IS doing...  and examine how much time and energy  we (individually) offer to those activities.  Not to consider  individual presence is to deny the power of the collective. 

The state of our Fraternity reflects the state of its members and  the state of our community.  We're talking about mass demonstrations  and we don't even have an AGENDA.  We can all ask ourselves what less-than-conservative efforts we have taken leadership in to secure benefits to the masses.  Stagnation is a response to collective apathy not a criticism of elected leadership.  And yes, I wish we could get beyond this membership intake and liability issue already; apparently easier said than done...  Just as criticism is easier to  offer than the energy to construct and reconstruct. We must remember the place from which the Fraternity emerged. Remember that it was a group of Black students "who were desirous of maintaining more intimate contacts with one another than their classroom study permitted."  And while the Fraternity has developed and matured, as an Organization, a corporate structure, it has constraints.  However, as a BROTHERHOOD, our scope is still limitless.  Again, I acknowledge and agree that we can do better. 

In the final analysis, it is the *individual who makes  changes, challenges the world, invites progress, strengthens and shapes the *collective destiny. History is still waiting for "accidents" to happen.  What will be your/my interaction with fate? 

WE SHALL TRANSCEND ALL. 

FROM BROTHER FRED HARRIS 

Just a note to brother Dailey's rely to my comments on the Talented Tenth in SHM, # 37. Brother Dailey stated precisely what I intended to say in his eloquent response in SHM, #38, but I would add just a couple of more points for Brother Buckley and others to ponder.  Not only do I think Brother Buckley misinterpreted DuBois's idea of the Talented Tenth, as brother Dailey pointed out, but his logic that the individual contributions brothers render outside of the fraternity constitute Alpha's presence is equally flawed. What once made Alpha a great organization was its cooperative, not individual response, to the conditions that affected black folks. This organization response included initiatives such as the "Go to High School, Go the College" campaign, which inspired many black youth through the efforts of local chapters. The campaign inspired many youth to complete high school and college in a period of American life when very few black Americans, especially in the South, had the wherewithal to pursue formal education. 

 Not only did the fraternity lend financial and intellectual support to dismantle Jim Crow laws, including paying the tuition of students (brothers as well as non-brothers) who desegregated white colleges, but the fraternity was a visionary in its voter registration and citizenship campaign--"A Voteless People Is a Hopeless People." Launched during the 1930s, the campaign assisted black voter registration in a period of virtual disfranchisement in the South. While individual Alphas may have gone on their own to register people in their communities, Alpha as a collective entity provided leadership and resources, remaining close to its origins as an institution of community service.  The campaign was visionary because it was replicated thirty years later through the establishment of  "citizenship schools" by SCLC and SNCC during the civil rights movement. 

Although I am not one who readily quotes biblical scriptures (I leave that to Skip), one comes to mind when I think of the future of Alpha: "where there is no vision the people will perish." I would expend that by saying where there is no leadership, institutions will perish. Leadership sets the tone of an institution's response to issues and concerns. The sad fact of the matter is that Alpha may have seen its better days as an institution committed to the problems that our communities face. It is that vision of community service that separates us from all the others--we really don't expect that kind of 
vision from the other frats (black or white). 

If we compare Alpha's commitment during the pre-civil rights era to its response to concerns in the post civil rights era, one could easily conclude that Alpha has given up its commitment, and abandoned its origins as an institution concerned with the civil and human rights of black folk (and  others).  Where are the civil rights radicals like Belford Lawson and Charlie Houston among us?  Organic intellectuals such as Rayford Logan, who in his edited volume, "What the Negro Wants," set the tone for civil rights militancy after World War II? There are many others of that era, but the  question which we should ponder now brothers is what has our leadership on this front been in the post-civil rights era? 

The answer, I believe, is very little. 

 Only a few visionaries in the post-civil rights era immediately come to mind--past general presidents Ernest Morial and Ozell Sutton (remember his support of brothers' and the fraternity's involvement in the anti-apartheid movement?). When future historians look back at the conditions of black folk  in the later part of the twentieth century, they will see an erosion in civil rights with the same vigor that took place in the  late 19th century--a period that Brother Rayford Logan aptly termed the "nadir" of black civil rights. We may be experiencing another nadir that threatens to undermined the gains fought for during the 1960s. Affirmative action as a public policy tool has been virtually wiped away by the federal courts. The nation's criminal justice system, which puts away thousands of black youth each year for NON-VIOLENT offences, is a human warehouse for minorities and the poor. In  some cases, the prison system is helping corporations increase their profits by providing them with free labor through prisons---a modern day chain gag. Our minority representation is threatened by legal attempts to erode the 1965 Voting Rights Act. A hostile Congress debates whether it should extend the Voting Rights Act or not. Our civil rights as citizens are violated everyday--through racial profiling--because our black skin immediately makes us suspected criminals in the eyes of white (and in many cases black) law enforcement officers. Black men and women are still being killed by white supremacists. 

And what do we do? We convene a convention in a state that, a year ago, witnessed a modern day lynching when James Byrd, Jr., a member of the "untalented ninetieth," was dragged to pieces from a back of a pickup truck by racists. I suppose the step-shows, banquets, parties, fraternal lunches,  fashion shows, and the like will help us push that gruesome event from our memory. 

Again, what did Alpha do, the historians will ask. Were they "servants" to causes when the black community needed its collective talents and resources? Sadly, the only presence Alpha has in a court of law these days is not to provide resources to counter these onslaughts but to protect itself from 
lawsuits stemming from hazing incidents.  My, how times have changed! 

It might be that, as has always been the case, the "untalented ninetieth" will have to save itself--and by extension the black middle class. At least I know what side I'm on, do you? 

Fred Harris 

SKIP'S QUOTE FOR TODAY 
Remember that 

"Patience is the ability to keep your motor idling when you feel like stripping your gears." 

A few letters from Brothers: 

Bro. Mason, 

I have two questions for you. Who was the youngest General President of Alpha, and is there an age requirement to hold this position? 

Thank you in advance for your response. 

Bro. Theodore H. Thomas 

Skip's Response: Well the first five were college brothers, most of whom were in there early 20's. 

1st- Moses Morrison - age 22 
2nd- Roscoe C. Giles-  age 20 
3rd -Frederick Miller- age 22 
4th -Charles Garvin- age 21 
5th-Dickason- 20's (not sure of exact age because year of birth is unknown) 
6h Henry Arthur Callis- age 28 
7th Howard Long- age 26 
 

Dear Skip: 

Hi once again frat, I'm in Italy awaiting a flight back to the states. Should be back home in a week or so. I forgot to mention that when I emailed you last, I was in port in GREECE. After I thought about it a little, one of our connections to each other is because of Greece.  Of course the Greek alphabet comes from Greece, the Greek letters Alpha Phi Alpha are in that alphabet, so I just thought that it was cool to communicate with my fellow Greek frat brother while I was in Greece. 

Just something to make you say hmmmmmmm. 

Once again, I'm not sure if I'll make it in time to get to Dallas, 

Take care and good luck my brother and much success in 
Dallas! 

Bro. Reggie Jackson 

________________ 
CAN YOU HELP THIS GOOD BROTHER! 

Dear Brothers of the Chicago area, 

What alumni chapter(s) are in the Chicago area?  I recently met a very good brother who is moving to Chicago for a Ph.D program at the University of Chicago.  His name is Andrew Zawacki, and he came into the Frat at the College of William and Mary.  Since he has graduated, he has been over seas at Oxford as a Rhode Scholar as well as several other countries on the Fulbright Scholar program.  He has been back in the country for about a year but has been inactive during that time.  He wants to be reclaimed and is seeking to be affiliated with a chapter upon arrival in Chicago.  Any help with this matter would be appreciated.