THE TORCH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC
MU LAMBDA CHAPTER
Where Does Mu Lambda Stand in 2020
Brothers, I apologize for overwhelming you with multiple messages but it is necessary. Too many things need addressing and documenting. At the time of this writing we are dealing with a pandemic; coming off stay at home orders in Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia; approximately 1.78 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States; approximately 104,000 confirmed coronavirus related deaths; the senseless death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the knee of police officer, Derek Chauvin; the shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery while jogging in Georgia; riots in Atlanta; riots in Minneapolis; riots in Los Angeles, California; a Caucasian woman, Amy Cooper, calling the police on an African American man, Christian Cooper, in Central Park for asking her to put a leash on her dog; African American journalist arrested while covering the Minnesota riots; burning a police precinct in Minneapolis; Caucasian venture capitalist, Tom Austin, calling the police on African American male tenants alleging they did not belong. I do not condone violence. Fox News reporter Leland Vittert was covering protests in Lafayette Park near the White House when as many as a dozen masked protesters surrounded him and the news crew. “This was the scariest situation I’ve been in since I got chased out of Tahrir Square by a mob, and this was equally scary,” said Vittert. “Imagine what it’s like to be a black man, feeling like this every f###ing day,” a woman in the crowd is seen shouting at the crew as they hurried away. People are sick and tired of being sick and tired of black men being subjected to unnecessary violence and loss of life. I pondered what can Mu Lambda do. I think it is time for Alpha and particularly Mu Lambda to set aside personal agendas, have some grown up conversations, and work towards unity. Does it really matter whether you are young, old, wealthy, live in SE versus NW, went to Harvard versus UDC, when the first thing others see is your race? I have heard countless arguments as to why Alpha is divided but I say to all, the longer you are the divided, the longer African Americans will be gunned down in the street, have knees on their necks, and life choked out of our bodies. Why is it that college educated African American men in 2020 still assemble within their groups and orchestrate foolish protests against one another? Chapters in Alpha spewing negative rhetoric about another chapter. Brothers buying into the rhetoric because it fits their faction. If you fit into the aforementioned category, are you not as detrimental to the African American race in some ways as the other racists who are not of your same pigmentation? Fraternally, Brother Eddie Neal President Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Mu Lambda Chapter
JUNE 2020 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17
