Historically Black fraternities and sororities continue to have powerful influence in NELA

Editor's note: Reporter Ian Robinson is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Historically Black fraternities and sororities continue to have powerful impacts in the United States more than a century after their founding.

These organizations were created as a response to the racial isolation and discrimination that Black students felt at predominately white institutions. The first Black Greek lettered organization, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, which was founded in 1906 on the campus of Cornell University, was followed by eight other organizations.

Five were founded at Howard University: Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 1908, Omega Psi Phi fraternity in 1911, Delta Sigma Theta sorority in 1913, Phi Beta Sigma fraternity in 1914 and Zeta Phi Beta sorority in 1920. Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and Sigma Gamma Rho sorority were founded at Indiana University and Butler University in 1920 and 1922, respectively.

Iota Phi Theta fraternity, which rounds out the Black Greek organizations collectively known as the Divine Nine, was founded at Morgan State University in 1963.

More: Monroe City Council OK’s new cultural arts district, named in honor of Black Greek organizations

Black fraternities and sororities have been heavily involved in social justice movements, such as the Women's Suffrage Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. Today, these organizations continue to impact their communities on college campuses and beyond, particularly in communities throughout Northeast Louisiana.

Bret Sanders, president of the Mu Tau chapter of Omega Psi Phi, said following the pandemic, there has been a mass exodus of the Black population from the Black church, which used to be the epicenter of the Black community, with Black fraternities and sororities becoming more critically important than before.

"The effect that Black fraternities and sororities can have on our young people," Sanders said. "Whether it be through mentoring programs. Whether it be through reading in the schools. Whether it be through providing scholarships for kids to go to college. Whether it be through STEM programs for high school and junior high school age kids. There's so many things that Black fraternities and sororities are doing for young people that can have an impact on their growth and development in their educational process as they come up from pre-school to elementary school to junior high and high school and then on up into college."

Black fraternities and sororities are deeply rooted in history, service, scholarship and community uplift, Gloria George, president of the Omicron Iota Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., said. George said membership into these prestigious organizations provides a common sense for like-minded men and women to collaborate and expand their reach and impact through their local communities.

These organizations continue to address various social, civic, economic and political issues of interest to people of color.

"There's things like voter registration where we go into the high schools and encourage young people when they get to be 18 to register to vote," Sanders said. "Everything from Back-to-School drives where we go out and collect school supplies and other items and we make a substantial contribution ourselves from our chapter. We provide an event like we're having on Saturday where we distribute school supplies. We'll probably have over 500 kids where we'll have an activity where they can come and not only get school supplies but also get access to other organizations and entities in the community available to help families throughout the school year."

George said Alpha Kappa Alpha provides a variety of programs and service to empower their communities and execute the sorority's international programs locally, which have included awarded over $20,000 in scholarships to local Black female high school graduates over the last two years as well as other initiatives focused on social justice, voter education and registration, and improving human condition.

"We provide programs promoting mental health awareness, economic wealth, and women entrepreneurs," George said. "During the month of June, we participated in our national initiative to "Wear Pink, Spend Green and Buy Black" to in support of Black-owned businesses."

There are currently 2 million members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council collectively.

Prominent members of the Divine Nine organizations include Martin Luther King, Jr., Vice-President of the United States Kamala Harris, Michael Jordan and Colin Kaepernick. Local leaders such as Monroe City Councilwomen Juanita Woods and Kema Dawson, Monroe City Councilman Carday Marshall, West Monroe Alderman Rodney Welch and judges Ben Jones, Alvin Sharp, Tammy Lee, Aisha Clark and Fred Jones are members of Black fraternities and sororities.

Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinson and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3vln0w1.

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This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Here's the impact of Black fraternities and sororities in NELA