Centennial Reflections By Valerie Hollingsworth Baker 25th International Centennial President
10
At 7 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 13, 2020, New York City subway riders at the 125th St. train station in Harlem—the city’s historic heart and soul for Black folks—got the surprise of their lives during their morning commute. About 35 Zetas in head-to-toe royal blue and white made their way down the platform chanting, shrieking in excitement and waving sorority flags and fans! I was right there making a joyful noise with them. Our voices were insistent, powerful, proud. “Are you Zetarized?!!” I yelled out to the sorors. “YESSSS!!!” they roared back. “That’s my Grand!!!!” I heard a voice in the distance shout. Again came, “YESSS!!!” “I SAID MY SORORS!!...YOU’RE LOOKING GOOD TODAY!!” a soror exclaimed. We let the whole subway know the answer to that: “That’s ’cause a Zeta lady looks good every day! ZEE-PHI!!!” It’s hard to faze commuters in the City That Never Sleeps as impromptu street performances are so common, but our enthusiastic band of sharply-dressed African-American women in blue got their attention. Some stopped boarding the trains to keep watching what was happening. A lot of people taped us on their cell phones. Others asked what was going on, thinking it might be a protest. That gave us the opening we had hoped for. We explained that we were Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, a Black-Greek-lettered organization; that it was our 100th anniversary; and that they were meeting the sorority’s president—me—in their subway! The 125th train station in New York City was among locations nationwide unveiling billboards and digital signage that day touting the Centennial of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Other cities included Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta and Memphis. We even had signage at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in DC, where Past Grand Jylla Moore Tearte, 2020 Centennial Commission Chair, led a stroll line to the “Zeta Phi Beta’s Got Soul” chant, the video of which made it onto Watch the Yard’s social media pages! It was three days before Zeta Phi Beta would turn 100 years old on Jan. 16, 2020, and we wanted everybody to know it. The Centennial Zeta train officially pulled out that day, Sorors! Now that’s how you kick off a Centennial!
THE ARCHON MAGAZINE • SPRING & SUMMER 2021 REMEMBERING CENTENNIAL 100 (1920 – 2020)
