‘Educated and uplifted’: Black Greeks continue the legacy

EMILY O’REILLY

The University of Mississippi has five of the nine historically Black National Greek Letter sororities and fraternities known as the “Divine Nine”: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated.

The National Pan-Hellenic Council was founded on May 10, 1930, at Howard University in Washington, DC.

“NPHC promotes the well-being of its affiliate fraternities and sororities, facilitates the establishment and development of local councils and provides leadership training for its members,” Caitlyn Horton, NPHC president and member of Delta Sigma Theta, said.

The Divine Nine were established to create a space for the Black community during a time of racial inequality, according to Horton.

“The Divine Nine organizations were established during a time when Black people in the world felt as if they had no place for themselves. These organizations were established with unique core values, constitutions, bylaws and one common goal in mind,” Horton said. “All of these organizations wanted to create a safe space for the Black community to be educated and uplifted during trying times when racial inequality didn’t give this opportunity anywhere else.”

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American university women.

“Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority has participated in various service and philanthropy projects such as our nationwide MLK day of service events, Childhood Hunger Initiative Power Pack — where we provide children with meals — and our Black Dollar Days in June, where we support and promote the growth of Black-owned businesses,” Kiana Gleeton, the Building Our Economic Wealth initiative chair for the Theta Psi chapter of AKA, said.

AKA has six initiatives: Strengthen Our Sisterhood, Empower Our Families, Build Our Economic Wealth, Enhance Our Environment, Advocate for Social Justice and Uplift our Local Community.

“These initiatives are designed to improve the lives of those we serve. We will work collaboratively to maximize our outreach on progressive endeavors and consistently produce leaders who will advance our credo of service,” Torie Marion, president of AKA’s Upsilon Iota Omega Chapter said.

The Divine Nine allows members to help their communities.

“The organizations recognized that they all faced similar issues and that working together would enable them to develop plans of action that would assist them in resolving problems in their communities,” Sedrick Scott, assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at UM, said.

Each organization has local and national philanthropies. Horton noted that Delta Sigma Theta Sorority partners with the March of Dimes association, and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority participates in Operation Big Book Bag. The chapter collects and donates educational materials, equipment and school supplies. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has an Education

Foundation that focuses on scholarship, programs and training. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity has a college endowment fund and gives at least $50,000 to historically Black colleges and universities.

Scott said the Divine Nine gives students of color opportunities they didn’t have before.

“Historically, when students of color were denied the opportunity to join fraternal organizations or attend colleges of their choice, the Divine Nine served as a vessel to catapult changes in universities’ policies and surrounding communities,” Scott said. “The Divine Nine gave students the opportunity to receive a holistic education with service at its forefront.”

The South is known for its delicious food, called “comfort food.” But it’s important to note that comfort food did not arise out of comfortable circumstances.

Most comfort food comes from the Deep South in states such as Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, enslaved people were given very small amounts of food that was often of poor quality and nutritional value. Enslaved people used these foods to make and adapt traditional African recipes with what they were given. These recipes later became known as today’s soul food.

“One of the first things that I say in Southern food studies, maybe a bit provocatively, is that Southern food is Black food. There is no Southern food without the labor and the creative influence of African Americans. Southern food is the cuisine of cultural mixing,” Southern Foodways Alliance Associate Professor of Southern Studies and Associate Professor of Anthropology Catarina Passidomo said.

The South has always been represented by popular foods such as fried chicken, okra, collard greens and more, and Black people are to thank for it.

“This food genre, now associated with comfort and decadence, was born out of struggle and survival,” Vannessa Hayford, writer for the blog Black Foodie, said.

A telling example of this is the yam or sweet potato.

The word “yam” comes from a word meaning ‘to eat’ in the West African language Wolof.