blue phi

bro. dwayne thomas has shared with us another lost Crescent submission about the Sigma Beta Club. thank you for sharing, Frat.

Genesis 3:9 records God asking the question – Adam Where Art Thou? God knew where Adam was but wanted to know where was his heart. Where was his commitment? Where was he in relationship with Him? Today thousands of years later God is asking the same question to the men of this nation, state, city and certainly the men of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; Adam where art thou? Many of us have asked a similar question of ourselves. If not this question many of us have silently asked these questions: What is manhood? Chronologically I am what society says is a man but –What is a man? No man ever took time to teach me anything about manhood therefore I find myself a boy trapped in an oversized body. The little boy in me wants to grow up but doesn’t know how. Now I am married but – What is marriage? What I saw in my family was certainly dysfunctional and as a result most of the marriages ended in divorce. I now have children but ask myself – What is a father? Dad was never home. He was always in the street and/or working long hours to “ameliorate??? my life. I am told now I have to provide for my children, but What is a provider? Through all of these questions and the chaos of life I find God. I join the local church and as a member of the church I am told it is perfectly okay to show emotion but isn’t that a sign of weakness? Moreover I am now called a Man of God but I am still struggling with the original question of What is a Man. My brother, I feel your pain. Certainly, these and many other questions I have had. What about our boys and young men? Do we allow them to have these same questions?

today’s post comes to you via bro. dwayne thomas. last week, he posted a comment in which he included the following Crescent submission, which didn’t make the cut. i thought i’d pull it out of the comments and bring it up front and center to share with all. enjoy.

I have witnessed African boys who at the age of 16 were at the top of their class maintaining A averages and excelling outside the classroom in sports, music and other extra curricula activities. While I have seen this up close, many within the African American community have never witnessed boys in their community excel to great heights. Achievement is replaced by despair.

In five years of teaching and mentoring young men in the Sigma Beta Club, the youth affiliate group of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. I have seen young men literally change their lives from one of crime, drug abuse, and an overall menace to society to becoming law abiding young men in college studying education, social work, physics, english and physics.