from Bro. Jonathan Mason

Greetings Brothers In Sigma!

On this 94th Anniversary of the founding of our beloved fraternity, I wanted to share a few of my thoughts with the men of Sigma. Many of us will have celebrated the birthday of our fraternity on the 9th and many others will extend the celebration through this weekend, and perhaps, next weekend also. But in the midst of our celebration, I wanted to take a few moments to focus our minds on the serious reason for the founding of Phi Beta Sigma and to set before us the challenges that will transform our celebration into achievement. In thinking about our beloved fraternity, I first directed my mind to our history and the men who set the course upon which we now travel.

I have recently visited the campus of Howard University and walked on the sacred ground that gave birth to the fraternity which joins all of us as brothers. As I stood in the midst of the greatness that now typifies Howard University, I have tried to imagine how very different the campus was almost a century ago when our noble Founders first joined hands. On that cold, January day, none of the buildings that now stand were present. The “long walk” that leads to the Founders Library was years from creation. Of the buildings now familiar to most brothers, Douglas Hall, the Fine Arts Complex, the Alaine Locke Building and the Student Center; none then existed.

In 1914, the campus was stark; almost nonexistent. And yet, these three men had the insight to look beyond the years, to see beyond both time and space to see what Sigma has become today “a worldwide brotherhood” tens of thousands strong. What gave them the strength of purpose to do what no men before them had done; to conceive an organization radically different from any that then existed?

I believe in the principles [Brotherhood, Scholarship & Service] of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and my loyalty to these transcends all personal responsibility

Thinking on these things, I have come to see that our Founders didn’t simply speak about principles. They were the living embodiment of the principles that they gave to us. Let us look at each of these great men.

Charles Ignatius Brown was Brotherhood in flesh. Quiet and concerned, princely in manners and upright in bearing; our history tells us that it was he who identified virtually all of the members who composed the charter line of Alpha Chapter. It was Charles I. Brown who not only identified most the members of the first chapter; but it was the same Charles I. Brown who identified all of the members of the fourth chapter (the Delta Chapter) and, by himself, extended Phi Beta Sigma beyond the Mississippi into the Midwest.

Leonard Francis Morse represented the principle of Scholarship. Educated in the elementary and secondary schools of Bedford, Massachusetts, he was the valedictorian of his integrated, high school class prior to matriculating to Howard.  In 1915, he graduated from Howard University and was the first person in the history of Howard University to graduate in 3 years with an A.B and B.Ed degrees. Later, the degree of Bachelor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the Payne School of Divinity, Wilberforce University. He received his Master’s degree from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and the degrees of Doctor of Metaphysics and the Doctor of Psychology from the College of Metaphysics, Indianapolis, Indiana. The Honorary Degree of D.D. was conferred at Allen University, Columbia, SC, and the LLD at Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, FL.

Abram Langston Taylor lived the principle of Service. Our history tells us that long before he entered Howard, he had already dedicated himself to serving others and that he desired to form an organization that would translate the benefits of a college education to the masses of the community by joining college-trained men under a bond of public service. Once at Howard, Brother Taylor sought to find the two complementary individuals who, like himself, exemplified the principles around which they would formulate their new fraternity. He found those two men in Leonard Francis Morse and Charles Ignatius Brown.

Because of the principles which they embodied in forming a new fraternity, although the fifth fraternal organization born on the Howard campus and formed almost a decade after Alpha Phi Alpha was established on the campus, Phi Beta Sigma became the first to be formally recognized by the Board of Deans of the University. And, at a time when a great gulf existed between professors and students, three of the top professors of the university (including the only African-American Rhodes Scholar) applied for and joined their students in the new fraternity. On the campus of Tuskegee, noted scientist and botanist, Dr. George Washington Carver did likewise. We now know that one of the motivations for Dr. Carver may have been the new graduates in Veterinary Medicine who joined his faculty from Kansas State University (many of them Sigma men) who had come under the influence of Brother Charles I. Brown. These KSU graduates (many former members of the Delta chapter) helped to build the departments and programs (specifically in Veterinary Medicine) that have now given Tuskegee its world-famous reputation.

As many of you may know, I am a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and much of my time is spent in study and meditation on the principles that define and expand my faith tradition. As I thought about our Founders and the massive job that they entrusted to each of us and what has become of their dream, my mind recalled the story of Nehemiah, an important servant leader of the Old Testament.

Nehemiah was the cupbearer for his king; a very important position of trust because the cupbearer had the responsibility to taste the food and drink of the king to insure that no poison would reach the king’s lips. Much like a member of the Secret Service Detail that guards the president and the presidential candidates, the cupbearer daily placed his life at stake in the protection of his king. In Nehemiah, chapter one, we read that Nehemiah learned that the holy city of his people had fallen into great disrepair due to attack and negligence and that the city wall had been torn down leaving the city totally unprotected. The news brought such great sadness to Nehemiah that his king was able to see the great sadness on his face. The king loved Nehemiah and appreciated the great daily sacrifice that Nehemiah made in service and protection of his king. Wanting to do anything possible to assist his valuable servant, the king asked Nehemiah what could be done to solve the problems that had beset Jerusalem; a city whose very name means “city of peace”.

Nehemiah asked the king to allow him to go to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Recognizing the devotion of Nehemiah to his people, the king both granted Nehemiah’s request and provided him with letters of introduction and safe passage to insure his success and safety. Nehemiah recognized that rebuilding the city would not be an easy task. Beyond having been attacked, the city had been burned, and the powerful men (namely Sanballat, Tobiah and Gershem) some of whom who had laid waste to Jerusalem stood in opposition to Nehemiah; both attempting to ridicule him and to block his efforts.

In Chapter 2, verse 12 Nehemiah went out by night to quietly assess what needed to be done to rebuild and make the city strong. Nehemiah had great confidence in himself. Nehemiah recognized however, that beyond the “power of one”?? is the “power of many”; and that if he stood up and formed an army of brethren around himself, he could assemble sufficient manpower to successfully rebuild the city. Chapter three of the Book of Nehemiah tells how Nehemiah was able to pull together all of the various segments of the citizenry of Jerusalem; by exhibiting the same strength and integrity that had endeared him to the king. The achievements of Nehemiah were all the more powerful because he was able to stimulate the very people who had been living satisfied in the squalor of a devastated Jerusalem to join together and to work together to raise up a new Jerusalem.

In this new year of 2008, let us decide that we together shall become to Phi Beta Sigma what Nehemiah was to Jerusalem. We come from different birth places; some on this continent and some beyond. We practice many faiths and have different political persuasions. We practice different occupations and lead differing lifestyles. But all of us are members of Phi Beta Sigma and for us, Phi Beta Sigma, must become our “city of peace”.

The life histories of our Founders lie in our past. Our unrealized dreams lie in our unsteady present. But, if we can do for Sigma what Nehemiah did for Jerusalem, we can make our future become the productive, public service organization that our Founders first conceived.

I have always loved the miniseries Roots?? because it provides so many lessons regarding how those of us who happen to be African-American have overcome the seemingly insurmountable barriers that stood in our path. In one particular scene which brings tears to my eyes and inspiration to my heart at the same time, the enslaved Africans find themselves in deep despair. They had been stolen from their homes and marched for hundreds of miles overland to the sea. On the way, they had seen their women raped, their resisting men shot or butchered and left for the marauding animals. And now they were chained in the belly of a slave ship, lying among both the dead and the dying, lying in filth, lying in feces and lying in the residue of all manners of sickness and disease.

At this deepest moment of despair; separated by geography; separated by different languages and dialects and separated by tribe, one of the strongest among them, a Mandingo Warrior, makes a Nehemiah-like pronouncement that instantly brings bright sunshine and fresh light to evaporate all of the darkness of that dark and dank place that had disempowered them.

The Mandingo Warrior admonishes each man to turn to the man next to him and to recognize him as brother. He tells each man to teach the others the words of his language and to learn the words and language of those around him. And then he uses the phrase that has resonated in my mind ever since the very first time that I heard it. We shall be one village.

A quarter-century ago one of our brothers reminded us that, as members of Phi Beta Sigma, we should always strive to live up to the “inclusive we”. We shall be one village. We should do everything in our power to avoid ever becoming elitist or exclusive. We shall be one village. We must erase the divisions of region, the divisions of age, the divisions of class and title. We shall be one village. And we must strive to take our principles and ideals to the greater community. We shall make of them one village.

I stepped forward almost a year ago to offer myself as a servant-leader of our fraternity. I did not offer myself to become self-important or to add a new line to my resume. As we face the possibilities of this new year, I ask that each of you come to stand beside me. If we are standing side by side, none of us will have to worry that one of us is more important or more special than any other. As in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, there are many tasks that we must complete to rebuild our fraternity and to make it what our Founders desired. The “bad” news is that the job is so massive. The “good” news is that if we all work together, we have more than enough talent and resource to accomplish our goals.

Like Nehemiah, we can call forth the army of Sigma to rebuild what has been torn down and to rebuild the walls of Sigma. But, for now, let us carefully study together and to plan what steps we will take so that when our time comes to act, we will be ready and well-prepared. I stand ready to receive any words of instruction or questions of inquiry that any brother may have focused toward our restoration of the walls of our city of Sigma. Today, let us study the land. Tomorrow we shall “rise and build”.

I believe in the principles [Brotherhood, Scholarship & Service] of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and my loyalty to these transcends all personal responsibility

Let us work to make this year, 2008, our best birthday year possible and to make the next year even better.

Happy Birthday Sigma.
Beloved: Let us become one village!!!

Fraternally,
Jonathan A. Mason, Sr.