Hotep To the Keepers of the Dream – The Brothers of the Dove:<\/p>\n
Several weeks ago, in the middle of the night, a soft voice whispered to me in my sleep. The voice said to me, “You must go to Kansas State University. The answer that you have searched for over more than a quarter-century is waiting for you in Kansas”.<\/p>\n
Kansas? Manhattan, Kansas? What the hell could I possibly find in Manhattan, Kansas?<\/p>\n
The answer came back, “You will find yourself in Manhattan, Kansas.” And then the soft voice fell silent.<\/p>\n
I was born 61 years ago in Manhattan. Manhattan, New York (Harlem Hospital to be exact). I have searched, without success thus far, to establish the exact moment of my birth in Manhattan on February 14, 1945. A little bit more than a quarter century before my birth, the Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma was born on the campus of the Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.<\/p>\n
The Founders of Phi Beta Sigma lived, and personified, the principles that they established and left to us. A. Langston Taylor had heard of the fraternities on the campus of Howard University before his acceptance. And Abram Langston Taylor had made promise to God that if he were ever able to attend Howard University; he would work to establish a new fraternity – a fraternity that would exist under a new mandate. Brother Taylor’s personal motto was, “Culture for Service”. Brother Taylor promised God that if he were ever able to attend Howard University, he would establish a fraternity dedicated to sharing the benefits that he had received with those who had not been quite so fortunate. With the establishment of Phi Beta Sigma, that promise to God was fulfilled. Founder Taylor exemplified the principle of Service.<\/p>\n
Leonard Francis Morse also made a promise to God. Brother Morse believed that each of us should feel an absolute responsibility to study to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:14-16). Brother Morse dedicated himself to the Christian ministry. When the opportunity revealed itself, he joined Founder Taylor to establish a new fraternity on the Howard campus. With the founding of Phi Beta Sigma, Founder Morse also dedicated himself to scholarship. Before he made the transition back to spirit, Founder Morse had earned, or been awarded, some eight scholastic degrees. With the establishment of Phi Beta Sigma, Founder Morse had fulfilled his promise to God. Founder Morse exemplified the principle of Scholarship.Charles Ignatius Brown was chosen by Founders Taylor and Morse to join them in the establishment of a new fraternity. Founder Brown made a promise to God that he would work to join all men as brothers. Our history reveals that most of the charter members were personally recruited by Founder Brown. Brother Brown was a “Brothers’ Brother”. Our history also reveals that Founder Brown was impeccable in his dress and princely in his manners. With the founding of Phi Beta Sigma on the Howard campus, Founder Brown’s promise to God was almost fulfilled – almost; but not quite.<\/p>\n
To establish that Phi Beta Sigma was broader and bigger than just a “Negro” fraternity, Founder Brown had to place a chapter somewhere where Negroes did not predominate. He chose the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas – a “mixed race” campus. And in 1917, with the establishment of the Delta Chapter (the first chapter of any predominately African-American fraternity on a predominately white campus – and the first chapter of any predominately African-American fraternity west of the Mississippi), Founder Brown knew that he had put in place the fulfillment of his promise to God. Founder Brown exemplified the principle of Brotherhood.<\/p>\n
Three Founders, three principles. Each man lived the principle he advocated.<\/p>\n
The path they left to us is brilliantly simple. Those who would follow the lead of the Founders must first promise to become brothers – men who stand shoulder to shoulder with none more important or more favored than the other. They must study their areas of discipline in such a way that no one can find them lacking in information and readiness. And finally: they must willingly give of themselves to others; building brotherhood – building skills – and rendering service as they move forward.<\/p>\n
Our meeting at KSU brought me to tears. I am so used to phony importance and feigned appreciation. When the KSU president, President Wefald, took a seat at the head table, I expected a ten sentence welcome, a dishonest expression of appreciation and the announcement that “unfortunately” he had another previous engagement. I figured his butt would be gone in about three minutes.After forty-five minutes, I found tears in my eyes. Without notes or hesitation, President Wefald (a history professor by trade) outlined the history of the days following our enslavement and the mandate that Kansas State felt in assisting Negroes in achieving parity in the new American society. At the conclusion of his hour long history lesson, I was weak from the depth of information that I had heard and the part that Charles I. Brown had played in the fulfillment of KSU’s mandate. My great sorrow is that I had not recognized what I would experience; and therefore had not made preparations to record it. I will return to KSU, if for no other reason, to capture the wisdom of President Wefald.I was trained as a research chemist. I am accustomed to attending academic symposiums. Kansas State University put on a full symposium on the history of Delta Chapter and the role that had played in things that I greatly respected.<\/p>\n
This is getting a little long; so permit me to shorthand my impressions.<\/p>\n
I have long admired Tuskegee University. Tuskegee has graduated more African-Americans in some specialties than any other university in the world. I knew that. What I did not know was that virtually all of the leading professors at Tuskegee in the famed Veterinary Science Program had received their training at KSU. Dean after Dean; and professor after professor lectured us on the preparation of the Tuskegee professor at KSU. And I swelled with pride as the archives department showed us the faces of the men themselves. They had their pictures as freshmen in 1917; their pictures as sophomores in 1918,; as juniors in 1919; and as seniors in 1920. They showed us their pictures as they migrated to Tuskegee and as they worked for the USDA. They outlined the major programs at Tuskegee that each of the KSU graduates had established. And then the clincher – most of those KSU graduates who established the departments at Tuskegee were SIGMAS !!!<\/p>\n
They presented us with DVDs chronicling the lives and contributions of the KSU Sigmas.<\/p>\n
I watched an old, thin white man – the Dean of the Veterinary Science Department speak in a soft loving voice for an hour about the contributions of the KSU Sigmas. No notes, great detail. It was obvious that he was in love with the KSU Sigmas and proud of the contributions that his department had made to their development. I thought: what if some of us loved Sigma as much as he.<\/p>\n
One final word at this point. There were several brothers present from Delta chapter. They had been told by some Sigma officials not to have anything to do with Kevin or his troop of history buffs. They refused to drink the Kool Aid. They were present. They were well dressed and they have wonderful personalities. They left the symposium with a mandate to live up to the legacy that they did not know they even had.<\/p>\n
There was a party after the symposium in Lawrence, Kansas (about 45 minutes from Manhattan, Kansas). The brothers returned to Manhattan at about 6:00 a.m. They were present at the 9:00 a.m. breakfast the following morning before I arrived. There must be strength in the water in Kansas.<\/p>\n
At the end of the morning session, before he had to leave for an appointment away from the campus, President Wefald looked at the audience and told us how privileged KSU would be to house the history of Phi Beta Sigma. He closed by saying, “We understand the importance of your history and its contribution to the history of KSU”. “We get it – I get it”.<\/p>\n
President Wefald; It was clear that you and everyone at KSU gets it. Damn Clear !!!<\/p>\n
God Bless our Noble Founders – and God Bless Kevin Christian.<\/p>\n
P.S. – Kevin Christian organized and worked to fulfill the Pilgrimage to Delta Chapter. Along the way, officers of Phi Beta Sigma made false promises, lied directly, and did everything that they could to prevent the meeting. When some of them finally arrived on the get-away day, their presence was inconsequential. maybe – when the next symposium is held, instead of fighting us, they will sit in the front row taking notes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hotep To the Keepers of the Dream – The Brothers of the Dove: Several weeks ago, in the middle of the night, a soft voice whispered to me in my sleep. The voice said to me, “You must go to Kansas State University. The answer that you have searched for over more than a quarter-century … Read moreAnd In One Day…the World Changed. Praise God!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3165,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions\/3165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}