ALPHA MEN, MEN OF DISTINCTION OR EXTINCTION?

According to the desires of our Founders, Alpha Phi Alpha man are supposed to be men of “distinction.” What does the word mean? It means that we are supposed to be men who “set ourselves apart” by virtue of our academic excellence, our social graces, our interaction with others, our dress and comportment and all other elements of our lives. We are called to be “distinguished,” not run of the mill but outstanding such that we are recognized as a cut above the average.

Unfortunately, of late, my observation has been that we are everything but that. Our code of conduct has deteriorated, our dress, our aspirations and achievement of academic excellence, our relationships with women and our all-round general way of doing things. This is not to say that there are not some who still subscribe to and maintain these lofty aims, but in general, there seems to be diminution of standards in all of these areas.

Our Founders mandated that “our greatest interest lies outside of ourselves.” This mandate expects that we as brothers of this great fraternity seek to step out through the doors of the House of Alpha, engage the greater society and uplift them in any way that we can, especially our people! Today some in our brotherhood question why we want to get involved in so many societal issues and champion then as a necessary part of our raison d’etre. They obviously do not understand nor appreciate why we were founded. That is exactly what our Founders required of us. Our dress and comportment is another cause for concern. Years ago, Alpha dress was defined as a “conservative black suit, white shirt, gold or black and gold tie, knee high black socks and shined black shoes.”

Our order of protocol today says, “dark suit, long sleeved dress shirt, gold our black and gold tie, knee high black socks and black shoes.” I am not exactly sure when that change occurred, but one can understand the problems created by calling for a “dark suit.” Is a dark brown suit acceptable? Can it be dark green, dark blue, dark gray, dark purple, indigo, violet anything else but black? Is it ok if I wear a pink dress shirt, a red and white dress shirt, a chartreuse bowtie? Can I wear an Ascot of myriad colors? To add insult to injury some of our leaders refuse to wear black suits at official meetings but wear tan, light gray and other pastel shades with pink bowties and the like! When questioned, some respond that they do not look good in black! Since they knew what Alpha colors were before joining, perhaps they should have chosen Kappa or Omega or Sigma or Iota fraternities with which to affiliate.

These same people will criticize some of our young brothers for wearing baggy pants, lanyards hanging from their pockets, bedroom slippers and hair styles reminiscent of tornado ravaged fields! I do not espouse that we look like carbon copies, but I maintain that all that we

I fear that the day when an uninitiated individual can look at a man and say, “Are you an Alpha man?” and when questioned as to why the question is asked, receives the response “because you look like an Alpha man,” are gone, and that is a shame. Perhaps it heralds our extinction as men of distinction!

By Brother Ryle Bell

wear should be neat, clean, well-coiffed no matter the style, and present to the general public an outstanding looking individual clad in black and gold.

Our relationships with ladies have similarly deteriorated. When walking with a lady on the sidewalk, the gentleman usually positions himself closest to the street to try to protect the lady. If your lady cannot appreciate this perhaps you have chosen the wrong lady! If she objects to your opening the door for her, maybe she is the wrong lady? If you humiliate or denigrate her in public maybe you are a not a true man of Alpha because we do not treat our ladies like trash! Many of our brothers have a difficult time deciding how to eat at formal dinners. They don’t know which side their bread is located and what cutlery to use. Instead of seeing how much “wood they can take for the brotherhood,” why are we not teaching them these things which will prepare them for social advancement?

It seems to me that instead of preparing our brothers to influence and uplift the greater community, we allow the reverse to occur. The term “bros” is now routine as is the use of “you guys” at formal gatherings. On the other extreme we have Rev. Dr. Brothers in a house where we espouse loss of self!

We are now using signs akin to gang signs. The problem is not only the sign, as an older brother commented, but “one day someone will use that sign in the wrong place and get shot.” In addition, there are several different interpretations of the hand sign, so no one really knows what is being depicted!

Little by little we are being infiltrated by street symbols and vernacular and in turn we are becoming more and more undistinguished!