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The Real Life Stages of Black Greekdom
Ten years ago, I was hard at work writing my first book, The Divine Nine, when I began wondering: What are the real life stages of Black Greek life? How do you look at Black Greekdom from when you’re first initiated until you’re old and jaundiced? So I jotted down a few amusing anecdotes, and…
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Can an Alpha be 'the Next Design Star'?
I like Black Greeks who take risks. Show me someone who steps out of the box, with a plan, and I’ll show you your next leader. So when I heard that Alpha Phi Alpha brother Alex Sanchez was appearing as a contestant on HGTV’s popular show, The Next Design Star, I had to know more.…
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Welcome to The Divine Nine
Black Greeks. Just mention the shorthand term for members of black fraternities and sororities, and you’ll get a myriad of reactions. On one side, you have the black folks who think Black Greeks are the best thing since fried met chicken. They enjoy the brotherhood and sisterhood, the stepping, community service, and the pageantry associated…
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Taking a Costly Stand on Arizona
When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation’s toughest immigration law, Arizona Senate Bill 1070, it instantly put the nation’s oldest African-American college fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., in a tough spot. With their national convention scheduled to take place this July in Phoenix, Alpha Phi Alpha General President Herman “Skip” Mason and its board…
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Freaknic's Wild Ride
Freaknic. Mention the name of the famous-some would say infamous-Atlanta spring break festival to those who attended, and you get a myriad of responses. Some remember the early years of the 1980s, when students from HBCUs from throughout the Southeast could meet and fellowship during a four-day picnic. Others remember the ugliness that plagued the…
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Black Leaders Through the Looking Glass
Lawrence C. Ross Jr. is the author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities and a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Follow him on Twitter. Become a fan of The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Lawrence Ross is the author of the Los Angeles Times best-seller…
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Can We At Least Keep Stepping to Ourselves?
It’s the closest thing to Armageddon that many Black Greeks have seen since Laurence Fishburne’s character, Dap, ran around the fictitious Mission College campus yelling, “Wake Up!” in the classic movie, School Daze. Stepping, a bastion of black Greek life, has just undergone a revolution, and some black folks are pretty ticked off about it.…
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When Will Black Greeks Stop Hazing to Death?
In the final part of this special 3-part series on Black Greek Letter Organization hazing, author Lawrence C. Ross Jr. on why it may be a case of life or death, for both the pledges and the organizations themselves. Part 1 of this series is here. Part 2 of this series is here. All black…
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BGLO Special Report: Dangerous Hazing Has Not Stopped
In Part 2 of a special 3-part series on Black Greek Letter Organization hazing, author Lawrence C. Ross Jr. on why dangerous “underground” pledging still exists, and if the BGLOs are effectual when it comes to dealing with the root causes. Part 1 of this series is here. The belief in physical violence as a…
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Special Report: ‘Underground’ Pledging vs. ‘Membership Intake Process’
In Part 1 of a special 3-part series on Black Greek Letter Organization hazing, author Lawrence C. Ross Jr. on the physical and mental hazing that has injured (and in some cases, killed) scores of college students for decades. Pledging. For most black fraternity and sorority members initiated before 1990, pledging is when they formed…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
