Reputation Through Good Deeds
Today is the beginning of a new era. It’s the day we rededicate ourselves to the purpose for which we pledged our loyalty. “Manly Deeds, Scholarship and Love for All Mankind”, are the aims of our dear fraternity…”
When one thinks of the decision these seven (7) young men made on that cold Tuesday night in Ithaca, NY, it can’t do anything but make the hairs on your arms raise. Jewels Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle and Vertner Woodson Tandy had a unique vision that’s credited with launching the movement of black greek-lettered organizations.
Alpha Phi Alpha has enjoyed an illustrious history and is the Fraternity of choice for a number of America’s notable African-Americans – Dick Gregory, Professor Cornel West, Senator Edward Brooke, Congressman Charles B. Rangel, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Samuel Pierce, entrepreneur John Johnson, musician Donny Hathaway, United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, the first Premier of Bermuda Sir Edward T. Richards, Judge Greg Mathis, Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Senator Roland Burris, Freeman A. Hrabowski, III (President of University of Maryland, Baltimore County), actor Darryl M. Bell, actor Hill Harper, entrepreneur Randal Pinkett, journalist Roland S. Martin Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.The aforementioned list of men pales in comparison to the many that have passed through the hallowed halls of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Taking into consideration the collective history of Alpha Phi Alpha and its members, it is becoming increasingly important that we, the members of this Fraternity, protect our legacy from blemishes that may tar our history.
Law No. 5 in the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, states: “So much depends on reputation – Guard it with your life.” Alpha Phi Alpha is what it is in part because of the “collective” and “individual” reputations of its members. This reputation gives present day members the right to exercise what some refer to as extreme braggadocio, but can you really fault us/them?
Regardless of which way the pendulum swings to answer the fact remains it’s important, as Robert Greene stated, to “make your reputation unassailable.” In the case of Alpha Phi Alpha, this is a call to action for the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Tuesday, December 4, 1906 a group of men gathered in a room to make a decision that would impact and mold our lives. The organization of a fraternity brought and brings about a passion not often seen in men. It’s that zeal we must be proactively harness to impact the social ills within OUR Fraternity first, then OUR communities. There is much OUR communities need, require and desire.
All of these prove the fraternal aims of “Manly Deeds, Scholarship and Love for All Mankind” are all as prevalent today as they were when first adopted. Therefore, the men who belong to “…the College of Friendship; the University of Brotherly Love; the School for the Better Making of Men…” must continue to return to the forefront of leadership in and for OUR communities. Alpha exists not just for our benefit or that of our children, but for that which lies outside of us.
There are 720 hours in a day. How much of that time will you dedicate to others? Such dedication and good deeds will ensure the lofty reputation Alpha enjoys remains guarded through time. “To the youths who march onward and upwards towards the light…,” members of the oldest, boldest and coldest inter-collegiate Brotherhood of African-American men, continue to celebrate and enjoy the legacy created for the betterment of mankind.
To you I, Socrates (3-MY-Sp87), discovered in Mu Upsilon Chapter refined in Delta Lambda Chapter, say “Happy Founders’ Day!”