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That's My Jam: Top Ten Hip-Hop Videos With Black Greeks!
Don’t front, you know you get hyped when you see it. A popular hip-hop artist has a new video and BAM, there it is! Your frat or sorority members are all over the video, stepping, chilling, sporting para and generally representing the org in front of millions. Or he or she is the artist on…
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The Z in Kazakhstan stands for Zeta
I’ve met Black Greeks pretty much everywhere I’ve traveled. Whether they were chilling in Toronto, living on an ashram in Accra, Ghana, or serving beer in a London pub, I’m never surprised. But Black Greeks in Kazakhstan? What the…? Meet Erica McMahon, Syracuse grad and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority soror, who ditched her lucrative career…
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Going to Nationals…What's It All About?
All I remember about my summer job in ’88 was that my frat brother and I were working in 110-degree heat, and that was in the shade. My job was to use a heavy jackhammer to break up about one hundred yards of thick concrete, all reinforced with steel rebar, which made it feel like…
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A New Guide for the Other Woman
Let’s say you’re a single woman at Club HollerAtMe and you meet Mr. Married Guy. The more you talk, the more you find out that he’s everything you ever wanted. And soon, the wedding ring on his finger is just another piece of jewelry to you. Eventually, things turn into thangs, and suddenly you find…
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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…