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PHOTO BY HAROLD HALMA
A m e s s a g e of importance to all people at The Rebellious Age. There comes a time in your life when it seems absolutely right to rebel against old ideas. Against all the things that seem to be stacked up against your generation. Unfortunately, religious faith is one of the things that may get discarded right about now. But should it be? % %
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Your Faith echoes the very feelings you probably have right now. About
injustice. Inhumanity. Poverty. Cruelty. Prejudice. Hate. That's why your Faith is the very thing you should be working with. It can strengthen you. It can make things happen. In yourself, and in all the world around. But only if you let it. And only if you put it to work. President John F. Kennedy said: "God's work must truly be our own." What do you say?
Presented as a public service by:
ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC.
The
Sphinx
Volume 52
Number 4
December
1966
ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, P.O. Box 285 Lincolnton Station New York, N. Y. 10037 Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Directory tor 1966-1967
Editor-in-Chief George M. Daniels Jewel Henry A. Callis
3206 E Street. N.E.. Washington. DC.
Contributing Editors W. Barton Beatty, Charles A. Broaddus, Stenson E. Broaddus, David A. Dowdy, J. M. Ellison, Malvin R. Goode, Martin L. Harvey, Maceo Hill, L. W, Jeffries, Belford V. Lawson, Samuel A. Madden, Lionel H. Newsom, Gus T. Ridgel, Floyd Shepherd, A. Maceo Smith, Frank L. Stanley, Sr., L H. Stanton, Charles Wesley, 0. Wilson Winters, Laurence T. Young.
Officers General President General Secretary General Treasurer General Counsel — Editor, The Sphinx
- Bro. Lionel H. Newsom - Bro. Laurence T. Young - Bro. Leven C. Weiss Bro. James H. McGee - Bro. George M. Daniels,
Atlanta, Georgia 4432 South Harkway, Chicago, III. 2920 Kendall St.. Detroit, Mich. 1526 W. 3rd St.. Dayton. Ohio 470 Lenox Ave., New York. N. Y.
Vice Presidents Eastern — Bro. Frank J. Ellis 1929 W. Lanvale St., Baltimore. Md. Midwestern — Bro. Billy Jones 342-a East Broadway. East St. Louis, III. Southwestern — Bro. Earnest L. Wallace 2018 Van Cleve, Dallas, Texas Southern — Bro. W. Dewey Branch 2801 14th Ave.. North. Bessemer. Ala. Western — Bro. Oscar V. Little . 5835 Ernest Ave.. Los Angeles. Calif.
Editorial Advisory Committee Frank Ellis, Malvin R. Goode, Marshall Harris, John H. Johnson, Moss H. Kendrix, J. Herbert King, Belford V. Lawson, Samuel A. Madden, J. E. Martin, Lionel H. Newsom, Gus T. Ridgel, Floyd Shepherd, L. H. Stanton, Felix Warren, Laurence T. Young. Staff Photographer Henry Crawford
Assistant Vice Presidents Eastern — Bro. Ronald F. C. Allison Midwestern — Bro. John Wesley Sharp Southwestern — Bro. James E. Glover Western — Bro. George H. Pressley Southern.— Bro. Victor R. Jackson
Tenn. State Univ., Nashville. Tenn.
Comptroller — Bro. Gus T. Ridgel Historian — Bro. Charles H. Wesley Dir. Ed. Activities — Bro. Oscar W. Ritchie
Kentucky State College. Frankfort. Ky. 1824 Taylor Street. N.W.. Washington. D.C. 4778 Lakewood Rd.. Ravenna, Ohio
Chr. Alpha Phi Alpha Building Foundation, Inc. Bro. William M. Alexander
4272 Washington St., St. Lours, Mo.
REGIONAL DIRECTORS Eastern Region Massachusetts—Bro. James Howard Rhode Island — Bro. Ralph Allen Connecticut — Bro. W. Decker Clark New York — Albert Holland Pennsylvania — Bro. Frank Devine Delaware—Bro. Frank Devine Maryland-Washington — Bro. Thomas Hunt ... Virginia — Bro. Talmadge Tabb
...
105 Greenwood St.. Boston. Mass. 179 Doyle Ave.. Providence. R. I. 66 Dry Hill Road. Norwalk, Conn. 31 Hickory Hill Rd., Tappan. N. Y. 6202 Washington Ave.. Phila., Pa. 911 Spa Rd., Annapolis, Md. 324 Greenbriar Ave., Hampton, Va.
Midwestern Region Indiana—Bro. Montague Oliver 111 E. 19th. Gary. Indiana Northeast Ohio— Bro. Charles Nunn 10926 Pasadena Ave., Cleveland. Ohio Central Ohio — Bro. Oliver Sumlin 2724 Hoover Ave., Dayton. Ohio Northwest Ohio — Bro. Robert Stubblefield 1340 W. Woodruff, Toledo. Ohio Southern Illinois — Bro. Harold Thomas 1731 Gaty Ave., East St. Louis. Illinois West Missouri and Kansas — Bro. Edwin Byrd 2533 W. Paseo Dr., Kansas City, Mo. Wisconsin — Bro. Hoyt Harper 5344 N. 64th. Milwaukee. Wisconsin Southeast Ohio — Bro. Paul Turner 2335 Gardendale Dr.. Columbus 19. Ohio Western Michigan — Bro. William Boards, Jr. 680 W. Van Buren St.. Battle Creek. Mich. Northern Illinois — Bro. J. Herbert King 4728 Drexel Blvd.. Chicago. Illinois East Missouri — Bro. Clifton Bailey 3338A Aubert Ave., St. Louis 15, Mo. Iowa — Bro. Ernest Russell 3927 Amherst St., Des Moines. Iowa Southwest Ohio— Bro. Holloway Sells 699 N. Crescent Ave., Cincinnati. Ohio Kentucky—Bro. Herbert Olivera Kentucky State College, Frankfort. Kentucky West Central Missouri — Bro. Jimmy Buford 3548 Park Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. Central Missouri — Bro. Thomas D. Pawley, Jr. 1010 Lafayette. Jefferson City, Mo. Regional Secretary — Bro. Cramon Myers 404 West 44th Street, Indianapolis. Indiana Southwestern Region Oklahoma — Bro. Vernon L. Fosbee 569 N. 9th Street. Muskogee, Okla. Louisiana — Bro. Anthony M. Rachal, Jr 6727 Congress Drive. New Orleans. La. Arkansas — Bro. James A. Vault .... 2012 Commerce St.. Little Rock, Ark. Southern Region The Sphinx has been published continuously since 1914. Organizing Editor: Bro. Raymond W. Cannon. Organizing General President: Bro. Henry Lake Dickason. Second class postage paid at New York, N. Y. Postmaster: Send form 3579 and all correspondence to P.O. Box 285, Lincolnton Station, New York, N. Y. 10037.
Alabama — Bro. Kirkwood Balton Georgia — Bro. Henry Collier Florida — Bro. Herbert Starke Mississippi — Bro. T. J. Ranee North Carolina — Bro. G. H. Vaughn South Carolina—Bro. Luke Chatman Tennessee — Bro. George W. James Bro. Odell Lewis Bro. William Corbin Bro. Carlton Dias
1303 Main St.. Birmingham, Ala. 1527 Mills B. Lane Ave., Savannah, Ga. 724 N.W. 27th St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 407 Washington St.. Brookhaven, Miss. 1708 Shady Ave., Winston-Salem, N. C. P.O. Box 1311, Greeneville, S. C. 1527 E. 3rd St.. Chattanooga. Tenn. Western Region 330-22nd Avenue, East, Seattle, Washington 2401 W. Cherry Lynn Road, Phoenix, Arizona 949 Broderick St., San Francisco, California
LETTERS To the Editor The Sphinx P.O. Box 285 Lincolnton Station New York, N. Y. 10037
Adequate Funding Needed Let me congratulate you for the very fine job you're doing with the meager resources of your office. It is my hope that the Brothers, one day, will see the necessity of funding our publication adequately. W.
D E W E Y BRANCH
Southern Vice President Bessemer, Ala.
Good Public Relations For the Record
Closer Contact
With a desire to have the record show that I believe you have made a tremendous and positive contribution to the development of our organization with the newlydesigned format and content of The Sphinx—I think it important that you should have in hand, written testimony to this effect from one of the Brothers whom you apparently so diligently serve. Please accept my sincere congratulations on having demonstrated the courage of your convictions in initiating changes in our magazine. I am of the opinion that these changes were necessary and I do hope that as time matures the great mass of our Fraternity Brothers will share my thinking. Of course, you know it is human nature for any man, regardless of his station, to fight change; especially if such change will perhaps endanger his present being. Therefore, permit me to suggest that it is incumbent upon you and your staff to demonstrate to our Fraternity that the changes which you have wrought in The Sphinx will reap everlasting benefits to our organization. I think this is especially true since it was agreed that our magazine will, in the future, become subject to a broader public scrutiny.
It has been quite some time since you heard from us out here in the far West. Our line of communication is not as good as it should be. For this reason I am sending you our chapter news so the rest of Alpha will know that we are still going strong and are eager to keep in close contact with the Fraternity as a whole.
BRO. A. J. H. C L E M E N T ,
Claims Supervisor North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co. Durham, N. C.
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III
BRO. RAYMOND A.
SHIELDS
Los Angeles, Calif.
Outstanding Alpha Wife Recently a lady friend of mine was reading The Sprinx and asked me why it published so few articles about women. After considerable discussion I promised that I would suggest to you that our publication consider an article about an Alpha wife each issue. Being that this is only a shallow suggestion, it is my hope that you will discuss this suggestion with others to determine its possibilities. In reading The Sphinx it seems to me that you are attempting to make it not only a reference of chapter activities, but also a quality literary magazine of interest to a broader group of Brothers and those outside of Alpha. Thank you for an improvement over an already outstanding magazine. BRO. R U F U S
SKILLERN
Oakland, Calif.
Thank you for sending us the extra copies of The Sphinx. The reception of our magazine by the Brothers here was simply overwhelming. I had to check to make sure I had mine after the scramble. Bro. Mai Goode's recent critique of the graduate Brothers who are shirking their civic and community responsibilities was particularly interesting. Brother Goode spoke here recently at the NAACP regional, and he voiced his disapproval to many of us relative to "big-time" Alphas' sitting back on their laurels and doing nothing. Personally, this has been my cry for the last three years. We have too many "big-time" docile, individualistic, nonconformist Brothers in Alpha today. And as Bro. President Lionel Newsom consistently points out, Alpha membership is virtually at a standstill on many campuses and in numerous cities because we are not appealing to the caliber of men we profess to be. Just as the social revolution has come about in our society, so must one take place in Alpha. I am happy to see Alphas here in Springfield finally utilizing their resources and capabilities, and beginning to challenge the public while maintaining good rapport and good public relations with the community. BRO. OCTAVIUS ROWE
Springfield College Springfield, Mass.
Contents
TOP OF THE MONTH Anniversary Convention (Con't.)
Features The Dred Scott Decision/ Thurgood Marshall
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Convention Camera Clicks/ Henry C. Crawford
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A Resolute Breed of Men/ Charles H. Wesley
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With the articles by Brothers Thurgood Marshall and Charles Wesley appearing herein, this issue concludes the basic coverage of our last general convention. Neither of these Brothers need introductions for both are famous and noted men, both highly dedicated to Alpha. Brother Wesley, a past general president, (14th), is our fraternity historian as well as an eminent chronicler of the Negro people . . . Convention Camera Clicks this year is a special tribute to Bro. Henry (Heinie) C. Crawford, our official photographer.
Alpha in Action This is the new title of the news section of the Sphinx. In fact, it is only one of the new section titles that will be coming in future months as we attempt to remodel and broaden the total scope the Sphinx editorially and graphically.
Departments Alpha Directory
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New Feature Series to Spotlight Alpha Personalities
Letters
4
Since we thought up this new feature series many months ago, we've changed its name five times. First it was Unusual Alphas. But then we asked ourselves what's so unusual about Alphas being unusual or far above the ordinary cut of the ordinary guy? Next we thought that Outstanding Alphas would be a suitable title for this new personality feature series. But then, again, we felt this was alright as far as it went, until we asked ourselves: Doesn't this title narrow our scope too much by automatically excluding people who are non-members but staunch supporters of Alpha? We felt that we didn't want to get in a bind and be forced to change titles again in the near future, so we concocted Alpha in Action. We were so fond of that title, however, that we couldn't wait until next year to use it. Besides, we second-guessed ourselves again and decided to switch it to the news section. So, after all of this, what have we settled on as a name for the Sphinx's new personality series starting next year? That's simple — Focus.
Frat Humor
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Alpha in Action
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Negro GI's in Vietnam Front Cover: From the days when he memorized sections of the U.S. Constitution as a form of discipline at the public school he attended to his present position as U.S. Solicitor General, Brother Thurgood Marshall has traveled a direct path. He had his first experience in argumentation in family discussions with his father. Later, debating and the constitutional studies combined to direct his interest to the law as a career and his university training led him to the civil rights field. He is former counsel for the NAACP and judge of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
This article by Bro. Whitney Young, executive director of the National Urban League, has been rescheduled for February. In that same issue we will present a revealing account of the Negro in Kentucky by Bro. Frank L. Stanley, Sr., a past general president and publisher of the Louisville Defender. A major article in May will be Johnny Can't Read Because . . . . by Bro. Oscar W. Ritchie.
February Deadline: January 15. May Deadline: March 15.
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The U.S. Solicitor General Recalls in St. Louis Steps on the Road to Freedom Nearly 110 Years After
THE
DRED SCOTT DECISION by Thurgood
The Dred Scott decision was in 1857. Now we are almost 110 years from that, and what does that mean to all of us as we have been talking, and keep talking about history? Some times history gets out of focus. I remember early this year when some young people were talking to me—because they wanted everything as of yesterday— tomorrow was too late—and toward the end one said: "Let me ask you one more question: Did you get to Selma?" I said: "No." He said: "Why not?" I said: "Have been." Arthur Shores and I, just by ourselves, were down in that town about 25 or 30 years ago. We didn't have television, we didn't have radio, and we didn't have troops of any kind. We got in and we
6
Marshall
got out. Then I remembered when James Meredith was shot. I was very excited about it, and I noticed where it happened—near Hernando, Miss., and I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of being run out of Hernando 25 years ago. So, maybe that is what history means to me. But, I think there is much we get from being in this Court House because, first, the Dred Scott decision was a United States Supreme Court decision. It was a court decision, and it declared that a Negro, slave or free, was not a citizen of any place. He just didn't rate. Then you remember we had a little War, and then we had the 14th Amendment, and it starts off: All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside. But the interesting thing is that before then nobody had citizenship, and so for once the Negro started off equal. We all got our Federal citizenship in the 14th Amendment. That's the one time we've been equal since this country has been in existence. The Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court decision, 1896, established a "separate but equal" doctrine, then it was left to the Court to put all of this back in proper prospectus. We must also bear in mind, however, that after 1880, the Federal Government went out of the civil rights business. They
forgot we were around and lett all of us to the tender mercies of the Federal states. But once the courts began to move in the late 30's and 40's, it created a climate so that the rest of the Government could move in. The Executive branch is moving, and at least under the present administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, civil rights is the order of the day for the Federal Government. Why do I mention all of that in the past? Not so that we sit and rest, because none of this would have been accomplished if we hadn't intelligently pushed and pushed in every lawful way we could. Pitfalls in the Road Ahead The struggle for civil rights in this country is far from being solved. To the contrary there is much more yet to be done. Of course much more must be done by the Government, Federal as well as State. Much more indeed from business and industry, black as well as white. And much more by private and individual organizations is required. There are, however, certain inevitable conclusions drawn in this history and these are undeniable and cannot be ignored in planning the future. We have always known that the struggle for equality of man is a just cause, a lawful cause and a righteous one. We have not, and will not settle for less than complete equality without regard to race or color. However, to replace "White Power" with "Black Power" is an aim based itself upon inequality. To suggest that this be accomplished by force, threats, or riots is to disregard statistics, facts, proportions of the population, wealth, determination and plain basic common sense. Since there is a basic need to have real pride in our racial ancestry, I, for one, am proud of Negro Americans from Crispus Attucks and Frederick Douglass on down to Negroes like A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins and Martin Luther King. I can find no reason to be proud of the rock throwers, the Molotov Cocktail makers and the gun-shooting Negroes of recent years. Lawlessness is lawlessness and anarchy; neither race, color nor frustration is a sufficient excuse for either lawlessness or
anarchy. Let me get another thing straight. Negroes in Watts, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, indeed in every city in this country have every reason in the world to be dissatisfied, frustrated and indeed angry. They have every right to protest and to insist on their rights to better homes, to better schools, to better recreational facilities and to better jobs, but anarchy is not the answer. Negro Americans abhor anarchy and arson as much as any other Americans; we also resent the action of the white mobs that stone Negroes and turn over and burn their cars. Violence by minorities on both sides has beclouded the true issue before us today.
For example, we again hear of the White backlash. While we not only condone, we soundly condemn the violence of all who use force, regardless of what race they belong to. There is no need for either "black power" or "white power" or "white backlash"; no one can escape his duty by hiding behind the excuse of abandoning the fight for what is right and just by using "black power" as the reason or excuse. Even more important, Negroes and other friends of democracy must not panic in the face of this new outbreak. First of all, those advocating, provoking and using violence are a very small minority with nothing to offer but violence. The Negro who loots the store, breaks the windows, steals the meat or what have you, was just waiting for the
opportunity to do it. The majority, the huge majority of Americans of all races must continue to use the power of reason, lawful protest, all of our democratic processes and lawful processes. We must not be slowed down by these recent developments. We must not allow these outbreaks of violence to be used as an excuse to block our lawful objectives. We must not allow these outbreaks to be an excuse for us not to continue to push through into lawful processes of our Government. The Unpaid Debt Finally, those of us who have managed to get something in this world, but who are still Negroes, owe it to the other Negroes. We've got to stop talking and do more acting. Specifically, my suggestion is that more and more in our own community we go down into the ghetto. We know where it is, indeed a whole lot of us started there. Too many have forgotten it. We must go back into these ghettos, sit down with these people, tell them we are not only with you, but we are here, not behind you a mile back. Find out what they need. If there is one thing I love about the poverty program it is that once again we come out better than even. That's the only law I have ever seen passed where the Negro automatically qualifies. If any Negro applies for poverty aid, the burden is on the Government to show that he doesn't need it. So you know what these problems are, but find out what is urgent, what has to be done. Put pressure on the city to give it, pressure on that state to give it; pressure on the Federal Government to give it; but at the same time, there are many Negroes in many communities who can pool their money and put recreational areas in the center of building projects which they can help finance. The time has come when the Negro himself has to stop and take over some of this responsibility. Our fraternity has been in this fight a long time, from "Going to High School, Going to College". And that didn't work. Getting the Negroes to vote. And that didn't work. But, let's get into the community, and work in the community with the man in the ghetto.
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CONVENTION CAMERA CLICKS
BROTHERS & GUESTS CAUGHT IN THE ACT
60 ANNIVERSARY at the ^~^
^ k
Am
CONVENTION ST. LOUIS, MO., AUGUST 15-18, 1966
Late spring and summer wardrobes were modeled by St. Louis' own Perita Bates, noted international model and charm consultant, and Quincy Fielding, at luncheon for Alpha wives, mothers and sweethearts.
Life memberships in Alpha are increasing at a rapid pace. These Brothers, some who have been lifers for nearly 50 years, while others just recently, gather for closed early a.m. breakfast prior to the opening of the convention's second business session. St. Louis' Epsilon Lambda chapter has the largest life-member contingent with 35. •
Budweiser Bierstube was a favorite watering hole for Brothers and guests.
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A former President reminds Alphas t h a t the Gains of Yesteryear and the Glories of T o m o r r o w belong to and will be w o n by
A llosoliil*' lircccl of M e n By CHARLES H. WESLEY
Not long ago, a young man wrote an editor of a journal saying in protest against a statement about the past, "Today's youth is interested in the living present, not in the dead past." We agree with the first part of the statement about the living present, but the search for answers to problems of the present invariably leads to the past, for the living present is an extension of the past. The two can never be separated especially by the intelligent. Nevertheless, an African proverb has said, "If you know well the past, then the future won't bother you much." Looking backward, I recall the two General Conventions in this city, the Fifteenth General Convention in 1922 and the Twenty-Fourth General Convention of 1933. At these conventions, a resolute breed of men had assembled in the battles which were on between education and freedom on one side and ignorance and prejudice on the other. The Convention of 1933 was my first Convention as General President, after my election as General President in 1931 at Cincinnati. Now, I return again to St. Louis after 33 years for a similar purpose to attend this Convention and to address another General Convention with education and freedom still as our challenges. This is a distinct pleasure, for which I am grateful to our General President Newsom and to you, my Brothers, for this opportunity.
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— Origin of Ideals — At the 1933 General Convention, I gave my first Presidential Address, and I said the following, 33 years ago: "If Alpha Phi Alpha would be something more than one among the number of fraternities, then it must not rest upon its past laurels, but it must hasten forward to its next objectives. We cannot live upon the past however glorious it may be." And I also said later: "We came to St. Louis with the conviction that in many respects the fraternities of America had been bowing down to false gods, and they, like the colleges, also had obligations to the social order." May I indulge again in nostalgia? As General President, I appointed a Committee on Educational Program in 1933, and out of this Committee there came the plan for an Alpha Phi Alpha Educational Foundation here at St. Louis, then under Epsilon Lambda's good offices. This Foundation 33 years ago was to be "a development of the "Go-to-High-School, Go-toCollege movement and the Alpha Phi Alpha Scholarship Commission." Its purposes were four in number: (1) collegiate scholarships, (2) research fellowships, (3) publication of theses researches as scholarly works, and (4) student guidance and direction. Again in 1965-1966 we plan an Educational Foundation, and this time we incorporate and implement it. Regional Conventions were adopted
here at St. Louis. The Distinguished Award for Eminent Achievement was approved here at St. Louis in 1933. The Committee on Public Policy was born here at St. Louis in 1933, "to speak out in bold and unequivocal terms on Negro problems in America." And again, I served in 1966 as Chairman of this Committee created here at St. Louis. We began here then the consideration of the University of Maryland Case involving the admission of a non-fraternity man, Donald G. Murray, an Amherst College graduate to the University of Maryland's Law School. This was to be the first case to break the color line in Southern State universities. It was initiated by Brothers Charles H. Houston, Thurgood Marshall, Belford V. Lawson, Jr., and Theodore E. Berry. This achievement was launched here at St. Louis in 1933 with Epsilon Lambda as host. Our Fraternity finally withdrew its active participation and gave the clear road to the NAACP. But we paid the full tuition and bought the books of law for Murray during his residency in study at the University of Maryland. This was really one of our great conventions. We doff our hats and bow our heads in memory of our Brothers who were at that Convention and are no longer with us; and we challenge each one of you to build as solidly today, as they built in their day. For they were a resolute breed of men!
These ideals continued to be expressed for education and freedom in Lloyd Gaines, Alpha Brother of Epsilon Lambda, who spearheaded the famous Gaines Case with Brother Sidney Redmond and Brothers of Epsilon Lambda opening the University of Missouri to the admission of the qualified. While a separate Law School was opened in Poro College, Gaines refused to attend it, and disappeared entirely from this city. These ideals were also expressed in Heman Sweat, Alpha Brother, in 1948 when the doors of the University of Texas were pried open to Americans of darker color. These goals were expressed in the Henderson Case filed by Brother Belford V. Lawson, Jr., and Brother Jawn Sandifer, known as the Dining Car Curtain Case, breaking down another badge of inferiority. Brothers Thurgood Marshall and Robert Carter have written the rest of the story in blazing letters for the concept of equality of admission to universities and equality of opportunity in many aspects of our life. This was a new resolute breed of men. Today we face new challenges.
today is that of white supremacy and black inferiority, as it has been throughout our Fraternity history, and the only bar against it has been a large continuous stream of a new resolute breed of men. It was the search for this resolute breed of men on the part of our Jewels at Cornell University which gave birth to Apha Phi Alpha. In the same year that our Social Study Club was organized, in 1905, the Conference of the First Niagara Movement was held at Niagara Falls, New York. In 1906, Brother Dr. DuBois inaugurated a Junior Niagara Movement at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where the Second Niagara Conference was held. The Junior Movement was to be rooted in the hearts and minds of college students. For this purpose, sixty years ago, Brother DuBois said that the Junior Movement would take a stand for the principles laid down by the Niagara Movement, and that this would be costly, but having "talent and training, the race demands of you, its coming leaders a wise, loyal, courageous, upright manly attitude upon all questions of vital interest to the race."
Gifts of Our Past
The first programs of Alpha Chapter manifest their concern for creating this new breed of men for education and for freedom. Jewel Callis voiced this idea when he said, "Society offered us narrowly circumscribed opportunity and no security in our need—out of our need our Fraternity brought social purpose and social action." This purpose created a resolute breed of men for their times, and we have it to do for ours. This breed of men searched for education, for they knew that only the educated could make themselves free. Our Jewels refused to believe in white power but they knew the value of organization for themselves. They used their heads and hearts, and not their prejudices. Their great gift has been received by us in a fraternity which was a proud word to them. What is it to us? However you answer this, there is still around this world a halo of tradition which we of this generation can prize very highly. In this connection, Carl Sandburg has raised the question which should be asked and answered by all of us, "Who paid for
And yet, the times have changed greatly since we met here in 1933. The times between the two meetings have not been an entrance to the new so much as an exit from the old. These yesterdays were days of anxiety and today's mood is also one of anxiety. Advances in industrialism have improved our standards of living so that we have better homes, the better hotels, the best of foods and the best of everything at hand, and still we are anxious and apprehensive about the future despite our well being and our social security numbers. These new opportunities call for the acceptance of responsibilities, responsibility for good behaviour, cultural deportment, less lewdness, less noise. For eight years there was once a Civil Rights Act in this nation, but in 1883 it was declared unconstitutional. This can happen again, unless we are ever on guard. Walt Whitman said of such a time as this, when tyranny would be in the land that, "the only bar against it is a large resolute breed of men." The tyranny of
our freedom? What is the price, and to whom am I beholden?" We can answer well this question. The price of our freedom in Alpha Phi Alpha was paid for by our Founders. Their price was an eternal vigilance. This is still the price, it has been and will be. It was won also by the blood of black and white in the First American Revolution, and from the Boston Massacre onwards. It won again in the Second American Revolution, the Civil War, by the martyrdom of white and black Americans. It was won in the sacrifice of John Brown and his five Negro heroes in his band of eighteen to Sherman's March to the Sea with white and black soldiers. It is being won now when our brothers and sisters are joining in acts of sacrifice of means and self in the cause of freedom again. Unfinished Tasks To continue to meet and face the challenge of freedom by the educated, we need a resolute breed of men. We need Alpha Brothers who are not only educated as specialists for the solution of their own individual problems of making a living, but also who are educated as free persons and free Americans. We need the resolute breed of men who see the influence of what they do professionally on the human relations of their communities. We need more with the masters and doctors' degrees, but we have too many who know only their special fields and live exclusively in them. And yet, the need is great for the technically trained. But the area around us is white to harvest in its need. Almost one fourth of our Negro families are now headed by females, and a bare majority of our children reach maturity only with both parents in the household. We need the men who will take the places of women as husbands and fathers in our Negro matriarchal society in which the roles are reversed. We need men who will add strength to the family structure. Between 1960 and 1963, the median family income of Negroes was 53 per cent of the white family's income. The mental tests of the Armed Forces were failed by 56 percent of those Negroes examined, revealing the weaknesses of the family structure and the schoolroom. These de-
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creases in value and power have led to dependency upon welfare and public assistance. Our colored population is then divided into a growing middle class who are becoming more independent as they have risen despite obstacles and a class of far lesser income who live in the ghettoes and the slums with their accompanying problems and handicaps. We must not be like the Priest and the Levite who pass by on the other side. We who would constitute the new breed must not sit in our house by the side of the road where the race of men go by, but we must be out in the road marching with the race of men towards a better world for all. This is a new demand upon us and upon America. For the old order changeth, yielding place to the new. Again and again in the past we have left it and turned towards the future. The change has been disturbing to those who glorify the good old days. But were there ever such days? Each, on the contrary, is a time unto itself, while each generation permits itself to be moved by fear rather than by faith and by anxiety rather than optimism. As we in Alpha Phi Alpha face the tomorrow, education and freedom are again in battle with wrong, prejudice and neglect among the people who are actually afraid as they were in 1933.
problems of many sorts, and especially problems of human relations which are still with us, and have changed only in degree. Some of us thought that AntiSemitism belonged to the past in Europe, but we have discovered that it is still active there as well as in our nation. The World Jewish Congress meeting last September in Belgium faced its demonstration causing the President of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations to say, "A German who does not remember what his own people did to the Jewish people does not command my respect." This sentiment would have a similar relation to our American scene if it would be paraphrased by one of us who face the American Nazi, "A white man who does not remember what his own people did to the colored people does not command my respect." They tell us sorrowfully that six million Jews were slaughtered in Nazi Germany. Many, many more millions were slaughtered in Africa, the Islands and the Western World in the slave trade, slavery and segregation. Lives and spirits have been broken and are being broken even as we sit here, and Americans who are white know little of these effects. We need a new breed of men for our times.
Since then, has there been change? Yes, there has been. Progress? Yes, but new
Making the Resolute Breed
Bro. Dr. Charles H. Wesley Alpha to furnish responsible in local communities.
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challenges leadership
This need has arisen continuously in
Alpha Phi Alpha's history, until today there are challenges in all areas where they once were. They are calling for a new breed to face the issues now in the same way that our men of Alpha faced similar issues in their time. Such men are not born resolute. They are bred resolute. How? First, by the abandonment of the concept of black inferiority. This concept is a matter of breeding, a matter of education, of self-emancipation, for the ideas growing out of it are not produced naturally but they are woven into minds by others who are tainted themselves. These reactions are learned. In the well known play, South Pacific, Ensign Nellie Forbush from Little Rock, Arkansas, is troubled by prejudice against colored people. She says that she can't help it—"this is something that is born in you." Lieutenant Coble replies, "It's not born in you. It happens after you are born." And then he sings: You've got to be taught to hate and fear, You've got to be taught from year to year, It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear, You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a different shade— You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught before it's too late. Before you're six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate— You've got to be carefully taught. Americans, white and black, are taught in this way. The home and the school and the street are the places where they are taught. Americans are bred in this way. Our task then becomes one of reconstructing, of replacing ignoble with noble thoughts about people, of bad behavior towards others with good behavior, or replacing the bad impressions, the crude mind pictures and the poor image spoken by parents and adults of the black stereotypes which have found lodgement in their thoughts. These transfers have gone on throughout our history, and it is high time that they should cease. It is the belief through teaching that the Negro is inferior because of his color; that he is lazy and will not work; that he is cowardly and submissive; that he is of a comic race; that with his grins, acquiescence and laughter he is happy despite any circumstance; that he is the minstrel of the races; that he is the criminal assailant of womanhood; that he is ignorant and less capable of learning; that the marches and demonstrations are further evidences of his disregard for law and order, in spite of the historical facts in similar actions by organized labor and women in their endeavors for freedom. Bad environment, not race or color, has produced some of these reactions, and unless men are bred differently—not merely born—and unless the environment is changed by good housing, streets, lights and health, these evils will continue. Birth is often by accident, and it is a synonyme for descent or lineage. But men who are born and bred must take time and effort, for these are the real makers of men, for: We are all blind until we see That in the human plan, Nothing is worth the making if It does not make the man
Why build these cities glorious If man unbuilded goes? In vain we build the work unless The builder also grows. The Truth about Africa In order to build the man, in the place of falsehoods and neglects we must see also the truth about Africa's historical background, which was envisioned as Ethiopia by our Jewels. With a background available for Europe, surely there is an African background, not of slavery but of the same glory and honor, just as in Europe there were kings and governments, cultures and family life. The teaching of the unknown history of Africa will bring a self confidence and a group confidence to dark Americans which can cause them to rise above race or color and give the deathblow to the concept of inferiority and deflate white superiority. Colored Americans will have to join with white Americans in this endeavor against the continuance of this basis for education in home and school. Black power and white power together! Pressures should be exerted on boards of education and curriculum makers among teachers to challenge the falsities of textbooks and to urge the use of supplementary textbooks as a first step and then the second step to integrated textbooks. As we are urging the integration of peoples, we must also urge the integration of subject matter. We, the new breed of men, must know this story of the true past ourselves, if we are to be useful in such a program of casting off inferiority. Secondly, let us accept the demand for harder effort, harder work, in order to ACHIEVE GREATER GOALS. There is a cult of the Easy, of wanting to live on Easy Street, a cult to get with the least effort and to succeed with as little work as possible. It is true that leisure has increased in our time, but there are many who do not know how to use it. The average work week is 45.5 hours, and is growing even less. For many, this means more time at television, more hours at play, more hours sitting and sleeping, when the gap is still great between white and black in top employment. When the doors are now open, it is tragic to take
the easy way and to be found fiddling while Rome is on fire. An observation is made by Mary Sarlon, novelist and poet, on the cult of the easy. She said, "Everything in his world (youth) from sex to religion is becoming easier and easier, is asking less and less of that hungry force inside him that wants to be whole, that wants to feel alive, and above all to be used. We have to find a way to make real dreams real. My answer is to improve W. B. Keat's famous statement and to say, 'in responsibilities begin dreams.'" With responsible work, ordinary people can become extraordinary. With work, average men can become above average. With work, the low IQ for Negro youth can be improved and advanced, and it should be. In fact, one of our dangers is to conceive of work as evil. The Garden of Eden story condemning man to work as a punishment is partly responsible for this reaction by some persons. Thomas Carlyle was one who believed that the world's worst curse was laziness, and that the only cure for human ills was to get busy at some worthwhile task. Work thou for pleasure; Paint or sing or carve The thing thou lovest, Though the body starve. Who works for glory Misses oft the goal, Who works for money Coins his own soul. Work for the work's sake; Then, and it might be, That all these things Shall be added unto thee. And this requires of us a new resolute breed of men! Thirdly, let us seek the development for ourselves and others of a greater maturity. In this connection Walter Lipmann has written in his Preface to Morals the following: "The critical phase of human experience then is the passage from childhood to maturity; the critical question is whether childish habits and expectations are to persist or to be transformed. In a larger sense this is the essence of education. For un-
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less a man has acquired the character of an adult, he is a lost soul no matter how good his technical equipment." A wiser man than he has said well, "When I became a man, I put away childish things." Our education must be buttressed by an inner core of maturity. Alpha Phi Alpha is now no place for children. It is a place for adulthood. When adult decisions are needed and childish ones are made, it is time for reflection and change. One of the objects of a college education after high school is to produce men and women who are no longer children. But some children never grow up. Much of the failure in college and after life where disciplinary action is needed grows out of the need for maturity. These are they who remain children and whose age belies their manhood and womanhood. Maturity will give the attitude needed in our life. However, it does not depend upon outside circumstances. It is an internal concept. I recall a college mate who made a new resolve to study. Towards this goal, he purchased a comfortable chair of the lounge type, a smoking jacket, soft slippers, a book rest, a special lamp, a revolving bookcase. In the evening, he came into the room, took off his coat, donned his jacket, sat comfortably down into his seat, adjusted himself, gave a sigh and shortly fell asleep. Good circumstances on the outside do not take the place of a child spirit which is pleased with creature comforts, as important as these may be. 'Tis still true as Cassius said to Brutus, The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings. A New Man Is Born This state can begin in our minds in which whole areas of life and history have been neglected by teachers, students and textbooks. This is due primarily to the fact that the United States is regarded as a white society, which has welcomed and tolerated other groups of darker colors and lesser cultures. But at the same time, our nation is composed of various
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groups from all the world's peoples. Our history has been taught and glorified with the achievements of Americans of one color and neglected for those of another color. Thus definite beliefs have entered the minds of many of the white and black populations, and false images have been created of darker people detrimental to human relations. The acknowledgment of the power of the mind in the divisions of men throughout the world is recognized in the Constitution of UNESCO which declared: "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed; that ignorance of each other's ways and lives has been a common cause throughout the history of mankind of that superstition and mistrust between the people of the world through which the differences have too often broken into war." Despite the fact that we are living in a world which has brought different peoples closer, despite scientific teaching about race which indicates that all that has been assumed previously is false, despite mass production and business organization which are making possible fuller employment, the American people remain apart in race and color due to the ignorance and neglect of the other's past. Stereotypes and pictures accompanied by myths have become accepted as truths because of the neglects of the facts in home, school and community. In the past, we have succeeded in reducing the concept of aristocracy based upon birth and family in American Life. We have decreased the power of wealth and private ownership for personal profit alone. We have abolished the distinctions on legal grounds between the sexes so that legally women are the equals of men. We shall abolish the limitations and break the chains of race and color, and we are on our way in these respects. Fundamental steps towards this goal have been taken with which many of us are acquainted, but some few are not so well known. So far as education is concerned, schools are not only being opened to all, but the Governors of California,
and Michigan have signed bills requiring textbooks to portray the correct roles of minority groups. Publishers have begun to issue in paperback and hardcover books in Negro life and history. Editors who are Negroes are being used for these books. Branches of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History are being organized and are at work on these programs in various communities. In order to meet the demands of the truth, our history must be rewritten, and the neglected must become the remembered if justice is to be done to the Negro and he is not to be discounted and kept removed from America's mainstream. In this respect, this is not an age that is dying, but an age that is coming to birth. We shall then need to work together and repeat the experience of one who knew that we as a people of America had to become one nation and one people, when he wrote: The Lord said: Say "we." But I shook my head, Hid my hands tight behind my back and said, Stubbornly, "I." The Lord said: Say "we." But I looked upon those people grimy and all awry, Myself in all those twisted shapes and colors? ah no! Distastefully I turned my head away Persistently said, "They" The Lord said: Say "we." And I at last Richer by a horde of years and tears, Looked into their eyes and found the heavy word That bent my back and bowed my head Like a shame faced school boy then, I mumbling said, "We, Lord." In this simple way, our America can become the land of the free against the tyranny of race. This can be done only by a new resolute breed of men who live not in the spirit of "I" or of "they", but of "we." May Alpha men continue to live in the creation of this breed of men now as in the past.
STDEU EXCHANGE
NOW THERE IS JACKSON, OUR NEW ADDITION . . . BE NICE TO HIM!! HE REPRESENTS A "NEW IMAGEAS.WELL AS A "NEW MARKET"!!!
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Post Grad Dissertations
The T.V. industry has its late shows, late, late shows and re-runs. This is a "late show" because it is infringing on the editorial deadline. It is "a re-run" because most of its humor is lifted from a Sphinx issue nearly twenty years old. Is it humor? If you see it after the editor has read it, perhaps it is. That fine article on Viet Nam in the October 1 issue prompted these re-runs.
a. He flunked his exams at the Business College because he said Eve invented the first loose leaf system. b. He went to law school and then he found out that his marriage was illegal since the girl's father didn't have a license to carry a gun that April Day. c. The class in entomology was studying butterflies, moths, etc. They were told to go to the library and bring back books on the subject for their next class meeting. Minnie Hill was so intrigued with her book that the teacher stole down to her desk and on the book she read this title, "Advice to Expectant Mothers." * * *
— Re-runs — Joe goes to his draft board. Passes physical. They ask him if he has anything to add to his medical history. Private-tobe-Joe answers. "Well, my mother was frightened by a broken juke box record during my embryonic period and I'm not exactly, not exactly, not exactly — " A midwest soldier who went to Camp Gordon for his basic training kept writing to his girl back home about a Georgia lass named Nellie. Nellie had wonderful eyes. Nellie had personality, charm and wit. Nellie had this, and Nellie had that. Finally, the girl back home could stand it no longer. She wrote to her soldier boyfriend and asked him point blank just what Nellie had that she didn't have. The answer came back quickly. "Absolutely nothing —only Nellie has it here!" Humor or Humus When a woman's toe sticks out of her shoes she's fashionable. When a man's does, he's a bum. * * * She'd be a good secretary if she wasn't so clockeyed. * * * The older you become the more a good time costs you, the less you enjoy it, and the longer it takes you to get over it. * * * Some wives are like fishermen. They brag about the one that got away and complain about the one they caught. * * * If you help a friend who's in trouble, he'll never forget you—especially the next time he's in trouble. * * * If you don't think women are explosive. try dropping one.
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Frat
Humor By O. WILSON WINTERS
If you don't get a lawyer who knows the law, get one who knows the judge. Freshman: "My feet burn like blazes. Do you think a mustard bath would help?" Sophomore: "Sure! There's nothing like a little mustard on hot dogs." Pretty Stenographer: "Sir, could I have my next week's salary in advance?" Boss: "No, my wife made me promise not to make any advances to you." Soldier Tourist: "Do you think kissing is unhealthy?" Cute Guide: "It would be right now. My husband is looking." * * * Beautician: "So your husband was tall, dark and handsome?" Milady: "Oh yes! My first was tall, my second was dark and my third was very handsome."
Teacher: "Who made the first cotton gin?" Student: "You can't catch me napping; they don't make gin from cotton." Sorority House Quickies • Look what Cleopatra got for keeping company with a snake. • He asked me for some old fashioned loving and I invited him around to meet grandmother. • She isn't a church member but she likes hims. • She still thinks Oliver Twist was a contortionist. * * * • Her new boy friend must be a swimming expert; he knows so many dives. • Oh yes, I quit that nudist colony—I just couldn't bear it. • That guy must have been an artist— he drew too many conclusions. • He was alright until he read Darwin— then he wanted to monkey around. • We are not surprised he turned out to be a chiropodist because he was always at the foot of the class in high school. * * * A society girl sued a newspaper for libel. The editor meant to report that the lady had been suffering from acute indigestion. The item appeared as follows: "Miss Agatha Jones of Crestmont Villa, who has been entertaining members of the Grambling football team, has been under the doctor's care. She is suffering from acute indiscretion."
Bro. Dr. Albert M. Carey, of Epsilon Upsilon Chapter and a member of the faculty at Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, was awarded the "Outstanding Teacher Award" as a tribute to excellent teaching. Bro. A.J.H. Clement, III, has been appointed State Director of Alpha Phi Alpha for North Carolina. The appointment was made by Bro. W. Dewey Branch, Southern Vice President, following a state-wide meeting of Alpha leaders who unanimously recommended Brother Clement. Brother Clement, claims supervisor, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co., is past president of his local chapter, and former delegate to general conventions. The Constitutional Amendments adopted at the 60th anniversary convention have been approved by an overwhelming majority of chapters, according to General Secretary Laurence Young.
Among them:
increase of life membership from $150 to $200. All chapters are being constantly warned that brutality in the Sphinx Clubs must be abolished. This also goes for initiations.
Two amendments (8 and 9)
pinpointed this warning and gave evidence that firm action will be taken against chapters and clubs violating this position.
The general president is
scheduled to appoint a committee to study and to report findings relative to initiation procedures and practices. Founders' Day was celebrated by Mu Lambda Chapter in Washington on December 3, at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
Jewel Henry Arthur Callis was
honored, Bro. Martin Luther King, Jr., was speaker at the black tie affair. The 61st anniversary convention committee met in Chicago in November to
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finalize some of the plans for the general convention, scheduled for Los Angeles, Calif., August 6-10, 1967.
Headquarters will be the Statler-Hilton.
Post-convention trips to Hawaii and Las Vegas are being arranged. Brothers of Delta Omicron Chapter decided last January that they needed a permanent residence in the San Francisco Bay area. for a suitable house.
So they set about looking
In February they rented one at 926 Capitol and are now
working with Brothers of Gamma Chi Lambda to purchase a house. Long-time Alpha house mother Bobbie Poole Marshall died recently in Chicago. She was 62, and served as house mother for 15 years.
Brothers of Theta and XI
Lambda Chapters were honorary pallbearers. Running for mayor of Chicago—Bro. Dick Gregory. On November 11 he announced in Chicago that he would run as an independent Democrat in the 1967 election. "I expect to win," he said, "and I hope to get most of the 'trick' vote." Brother Gregory defined the 'trick' vote as Negroes and also registered Democrats who would vote to re-elect Mayor Daley if Gregory were not in the field.
Gregory said he would hold a Southside rally to kick off his
candidacy, hopes to persuade leading entertainment personalities and Negro politicians to attend. Beta Psi Lambda recently received its NAACP life membership.
In addition it
has made significant financial and personal service contributions to Los Angeles' 28th Street Branch YMCA, the Boy Scouts of America and the Authors Study Club. Beta Psi Lambda also promotes "Go to Church Sunday" program and holds regular current affairs programs concerning the local community, civil rights, voting and education.
"Under direction of our able president,
Brother Thomas Robinson," they say, "we have already begun work to complete plans for one of the greatest general conventions since Alpha started having them."
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NEWS Alpha Sigma Brothers-HD
PHI rebuilding after 16 brothers graduate
Alpha Sigma Chapter has culminated a very fruitful year on the Wiley College campus. The chapter presented its Annual Week under the general theme received from the National Office. The highlight of this week is always campus-wied presentation of the Sweetheart who for the 1965-66 year was Miss Carolyn Taylor of Beaumont, Texas. From the beginning of the school year several of the Brothers made notable accomplishments. Brother James L. Pryor, III and Brother Robert B. Harbert were elected president and vice-president respectively of the Student Senate. The Chapter has three Brothers recognized in Who's Who Among Students in Colleges and Universities of America; they are Brothers Will E. Jefferson, Pryor and Harbert. The president of the Pre-Alumni Council and the vice-president of the Senior Class was Brother Harold D. Foster. Brothers Freddie Henderson, President of Alpha Sigma, and Russ C. Simpson are chairman and vice-chairman of the Prayer Service Committee.
The academic year of 1966-67 finds the Brothers of Phi Chapter, earnestly and untiringly perpetuating the ideals and traditions of Alpha Phi Alpha. Hit hard by June graduation (loss of sixteen brothers), Phi Chapter is in the process of rebuilding the numerical strength needed to carry out its programs and to meet the needs of its brothers and the student body. Phi Chapter is situated on a predominately white campus. But unfortunately, some Brothers say, "a system of social and cultural castration is practiced upon the Negro community here at Ohio University." Traditionally, however, Phi Chapter has recognized this factor and is
The chapter initiated six young men into the fraternity during the fall pledge period. They were Brothers John Gentry, who was vice-president of the Sophomore Class; John Harris, Marion Barrett, Phillip Leatherman, and Clyde Edwards, Jr. Brothers in the Wiley College A Capella Choir are: Will E. Jefferson, John Gentry, Phillip Leatherman, and Harold Foster. In the area of graduation, the chapter lost only three Brothers: James Hamilton, Don Williams and John Fulton. Brothers who made 2.00 or above averages for the fall semester of the school year 1965-66, are: Russ Simpson (2.83), Ernest Russell (2.79), Harold Foster (2.60), Don Williams (2.50), James L. Pryor (2.25), John Fulton (2.20), James Hamilton (2.07), Robert Harbert (2.00), and Will Jefferson (2.00).
fulfilling its obligation to the Negro on campus. Phi Chapter is continually producing the outstanding scholars, leaders and athletes. Through the achievements and examples of the men of Phi Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha has become an inspirational and driving force within the Negro student body and within the main stream of campus life as well. The scope of Chapter activity is quite broad, in that, they are programed and oriented to meet the cultural and social needs of the Negro student. Phi Chapter has provided the leadership and activities for the Negro community. It has maintained its own house, unassisted, for the last fifteen years. Because of increasing numbers. Phi Chapter is in the process of purchasing a larger house. Brothers
Bro. Harry S. Stephens (c), Royal Crown Cola Co., representative presents trophies to the winners in the Alpha Division of the Alpha Phi Alpha Bowling Tournament held as part of the sports activity in the 60th General Convention at St. Louis, Mo. Winners (l.-r.) are: Brothers Thallis Malone, St. Louis, Mo.; Barry Wiggins, Boston, Mass.; Daniel Williams, St. Louis; Carl Smith, Jefferson City, Mo.; Harry Stephens, RC Cola Co. representative; Andrew Smith, San Antonio, Texas; Luther Conley, St. Louis; Lawrence Young, General Secretary, Alpha Phi Alpha, Chicago, III.; and Joseph D. Wesley, Okmulgee, Okla.
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Brothers at A&T Off on right foot
Miss Sharon Barrow, Phi Queen hope to occupy it in the Fall of next year. Miss Sharon Barrow was elected Phi Chapter Queen for 1966-67. Miss Barrow, of Ashland, Ky., is a senior, majoring in Speech Therapy. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, she was recently placed in the top ten, in the competition for Homecoming Queen, Ohio University.
The Brothers of Beta Epsilon -Chapter at A. & T. College of Greensboro, N. C. have really begun on the right foot this year. Under the leadership of Arthur Haley, Jr. of Richmond, Virginia, the chapter has made plans to visit the local hospitals to help console the sick and distribute books and magazines to patients. The chapter also plans to gather and distribute food baskets to needy families in the community. One of the outstanding Brothers of the chapter is Arnie Bass, who last year visited Japan as a cultural exchange student for one semester, and who is also Wing Commander of the AFROTC Cadet Corps. Another outstanding Brother is Lee House, Jr., who attended the HarvardYale-Columbia Intensive Study Program last summer. He is also a prospective Alpha Kappa Muan.
The late Robert T. Custis of New York's Alpha Gamma Lambda chapter, was posthumously awarded Alpha's Distinguished Service Award at the Fraternity's 60th Anniversary Convention. Accepting award for Brother Custis, who died April 6 at 65, is Bro. Frank J. Ellis (r.), eastern vice president. Presenting award (c.) is Bro. Tolly W. Harris, chairman of the Committee on Achievements and Awards. Assisting him is General President Newsom.
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A third outstanding Brother is Tyrone Russell who was elected to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. Nine new Sphinxmen aspiring to Alpha are Japhet NKonge, William Bynum, James Schoffner, Thomas Cummings, Clarence Claggert, Robert Hubbard, Melvin Johnson, Freddy Davis, and Sherwood Spells.
Alphas Salute Africa At Annual Dance Probably the first Chapter of Alpha to implement the Report of the Public Policy Committee which was offered for consideration and adoption at the National Convention in St. Louis last August, was Alpha Gamma Lambda of New York City. Six major "areas of concern" were selected from the many problems confronting Negro leadership today and were suggested for action by chapters throughout the country. Not all topics suggested by the Committee have received implementation by Alpha Gamma Lambda as yet, but the one suggesting "closer relations with African peoples", had an enthusiastic and gay reception, November 4 when the Chapter gave its annual dance and chose as its theme, "Alpha Salutes Africa". Nine Ambassadors and their wives from African countries attended the dance in gay and colorful dress. The affair was staged by Brother Dick Campbell of Operation Crossroads Africa. Veteran Brothers from three to four decades back were hard put to recall Alpha formals of the past which compared favorably with the "Alpha Salutes Africa" theme for dignity, color, gayety and international impact. The countries represented by their Ambassadors, each of whom was introduced to the audience by Brother Campbell, were: Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania, Upper Volta and the West Indian country of Trinidad and Tobago. Following presentation of the Ambassadors, a complete floor show of African music, dance and drumming was rendered
located at the nationally famous Callaway Gardens, Inc., Pine Mountain, Ga., the first time a Negro group was entertained at this famous inland beach To initiate Education and Citizenship Week the chapter presented Soprano Yvonne Wright Lee and tenor, Bro. Tommy L. Ross in a recital. Following the recital, the Alpha Wives honored the artists with a reception. The auditorium of the First Baptist Church on Fannin Street was the scene of an impressive Sunday service. The occasion marked the initial public program for Theta Nu Lambda Chapter. The chapter celebrated Education for Citizenship Week. Bro. W. Dewey Branch, Southern vice president, was guest speaker. The presentation of the Citizen of the Year Award was made to J. F. Harrison by Bro. Frank Lewis, "In recognition of Outstanding Community Service."
Brothers Dick Campbell (I.) and James Herbert, president of Alpha Gamma flank famed drummer Olatunji of Nigeria.
Lambda,
by Olatunji of Nigeria. Olatunji and his company held forth for two seasons at the African Pavilion of the N. Y. World's Fair.
Theta Nu Lambda Citizenship Week
According to one brother, this implementation of Public Policy Committee's Concern was "the most painless and enjoyable one of all." Brothers can send a note to Brother Campbell for suggestions at Operation Crossroads Africa, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York City 10011.
For the past year the activities of Theta Nu Lambda Chapter of La Grange, Ga., range from the Annual Wives and Sweethearts Dinner to the observance of Education and Citizenship Week. The scene of the Annual Wives and Sweethearts Dinner was the Holiday Inn
Senator-elect Bro. Edward W. Brooke (r.) was the guest speaker recently at Union Methodist Church, Boston, Mass. He appears here with Bro. Gilbert H. Caldwell, pastor of Union.
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The Sphinx P.O. Box 285 Lincolnton Station New York, N. Y. 10037
Second Class Postage Paid At New York, N. Y.
Return Requested
First Steps LEARNING TO WALK is more of a trial for Douglas Pinnix, 2, Elon College, N.C., than for most little boys because the birth defect of open spine has paralyzed him below the waist. Here he shows his determination to stand on own two feet by using a "stabilizer" preliminary to being fitted with leg braces at March of Dimes Birth Defects Center, North Carolina University School of Medicine. Chanel Hill.