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Stepping up: from Jim Crow to the Jena 6, Black Greek-letter organizations continue to make an impact on history

Ebony, Feb, 2008 by Joy T. Bennett

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ON A COLD MORNING in the winter of 1908, and 12 years before women of any color could vote in the United States, 16 women from Howard University came together to form the first Black Greek-letter women's organization, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., with the credo "to provide service to all mankind."

Today, with more than 200,000 members, the AKAs are among nine Black sororities and fraternities, representing more than 1 million members, that play a central role in contemporary American and global issues, from the Jena 6 to relief efforts in Africa.

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For instance, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (the first Black Greek organization) is leading efforts to build a major monument to the organization's most recognized Alpha brother, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. During the 2006 ceremonial groundbreaking, King's children, Martin III, Yolanda and Bernice, expressed gratitude to the fraternity for making the project a reality.

The women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., in collaboration with Water for Children Africa, recently financed seven water tanks for schools in Kenya. The sorority also awarded micro loans to women in Ghana to help start businesses so they can provide for their families.

To mark its 100-year milestone in 2008, the AKAs plan a series of tributes, beginning with a pilgrimage to its founding home at Howard. Barbara A. McKinzie, AKA international president, says the AKA birthday celebration at its "Alpha" (first) chapter will be followed in July with its Centennial International Conference, also called the "boule," when more than 20,000 members are expected to converge on Washington, D.C.

How did this sorority--the first African-American sorority--achieve this historic milestone?

"I think that the core women that make this institution have been women who have sought to give of themselves--not take. That common characteristic is the stalwart that has continued to keep our eyes on the prize of the common good, and it is in that spirit that you can find reconciliation, forgiveness and conciliation," McKinzie says from the boardroom of the sorority's Chicago headquarters.

AKA has more than 975 chapters in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, Germany, Korea, Japan and on the continent of Africa. Prominent international AKAs include Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first woman elected to lead an African country. In 1957, the sorority first chartered an AKA chapter in Africa in Monrovia, Liberia. "We also have partnered with [the company] African Ancestry in looking back to who we really are," McKinzie says. "We do have a history and it did not begin with slavery."

Many of the Greek organizations have an active outreach in Africa. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., has placed 35 water wells in Ghanaian villages that did not have access to clean water. The sorority currently is building a health clinic at a girls' boarding high school in Ghana. The school has 1,500 young ladies obtaining a secondary education. Zeta also has placed two water wells on that campus and opened a children's library.

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., working in partnership with Africare, for many years has assisted in providing money to purchase grain grinders for African women to help lighten their back-breaking work. The project's focus has evolved to addressing--through finances and education--HIV/AIDS awareness, education and treatment.

Economic empowerment is also an important issue for historically Black sororities and fraternities. AKA President McKinzie, whose centennial administration is driven by the theme "Extra Special Preservation (ESP)," an acronym for "economics, service and partnerships," says the sorority has forged partnerships with JPMorgan Chase to put more than 3,000 African-American families in homes, either as first-time homebuyers or as investors.

In 2006 the sorority chose to host its conference in New Orleans instead of hosting a Hawaiian cruise, a move that contributed $5 million to the local economy and supported recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

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The Deltas' efforts also are targeting home ownership. The Delta Challenge Homeownership Initiative (in collaboration with two major financial corporations) is designed to serve as a cornerstone of wealth creation for African-Americans. Major components of the program, conducted regularly via community meetings and workshops, also focus on financial management, debt, credit issues and leveraging the economic playing field through real estate investing and education.

Sigma Gamma Rho, founded Nov. 12, 1922, at Butler Uni versity in Indianapolis, has a national project called "Project Wee Savers" to help young people ages 6 to 18 to learn the real-life skills of saving money and investing. Participants study basic investing, setting specific goals attainable through monitoring and mentoring of money and activities.

Stepping up: from Jim Crow to the Jena 6, Black Greek-letter organizations continue to make an impact on history

Ebony, Feb, 2008 by Joy T. Bennett

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