Posts Tagged ‘Zeta Phi Beta’

In The Mo’Kelly Report we’ve had extensive discussions on the role and reality of Black Greek Letter Organizations.  From Zeta Phi Beta, to Alpha Kappa Alpha sororities to even Phi Beta Sigma and  Omega Psi Phi fraternities have all served as entry points into the discussion.

In other words, The Mo’Kelly Report hasn’t played any favorites.

Today is Sigma Gama Rho sorority’s turn. Four members of  the San Jose State University chapter of the sorority have been arrested and the national body is being sued for hazing.

(Mind you, this is NOT the same case as the 6 Rutgers members who were arrested earlier this year.  This is ANOTHER case in which members have been jailed and the body sued.  Hence the GANGSTA nickname.  Sigma Gangsta Rho…you’ve earned the moniker.  Refresher HERE.)

However, Howard contends, that the group’s pledge process was far from sisterly. According to her complaint, she and fellow pledges were punched, slapped, kicked, slammed into walls, struck with a wooden spoon and a cane, and had books and coins thrown at them during a series of 16 nighttime initiation sessions. Howard recalled one evening when a sorority sister told her to close her eyes. She was then struck on the buttocks with what she later learned was a kitchen pot. The pledges were also frequently struck with a wooden paddle, Howard said, blows that left her with welts on her buttocks.

Howard reported that pledges were repeatedly warned not to talk with friends and family about the initiation process, since “snitches get stitches.” They were also told that if they failed to participate in certain pledge activities, they would be “jumped out,” a gang term for a beating conducted by all members of the group.

Howard’s complaint names as defendants San Jose State University, Sigma Gamma Rho, and various sorority members, including a quartet of women who, court records show, pleaded no contest earlier this year to misdemeanor hazing charges. The defendants–Princess Odom; Monique Hughes; Joslyn Beard; and Nicole Remble–were each sentenced to 90 days in jail, directed to serve two years of court probation, and barred from involvement with any sorority.

FULL STORY HERE.

And can Mo’Kelly say it again…”TOLD YOU SO!”  Let’s quote Mo’Kelly…

The argument can be made that as we collectively move further and further away from the principles of brotherhood and sisterhood and closer to big business, these are the inevitabilities.  The deficiencies in our brotherhood and sisterhood quotients have borne themselves out from the top down.

On the undergraduate level you hear more and more how it becomes harder for the lay person to distinguish the fraternities from the gangs, for often times the behavior is just that, indistinguishable. Having nothing to do with our “hand signs,” the stepshow altercations between organizations have increasingly become the rule, not the exception.

Maybe the caliber of membership has decreased relative to the sheer numbers of African-Americans in college, which have also dropped.  Maybe the talent pool is just too shallow or maybe…just maybe, our organizations have become too shallow in and of themselves.

-  Mo’Kelly 7.15.09

Mo’Kelly 7.15.09

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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STORY HERE

WARNER ROBINS — There won’t be any new members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. for the foreseeable future.

An electronic letter sent to members by the fraternity’s general president, Herman “Skip” Mason Jr., says future intake processes for new members are suspended indefinitely, citing “the failure of some of our members to behave honorably and with care.”

His message comes less than a month after suspected hazing by members of the fraternity’s Fort Valley State University chapter left one member seriously injured and another member arrested for apparently causing the injuries.

“Following my review of 2009, it became clear to me that one area that needs our immediate focus is the conduct of brothers involved in the intake process,” Mason letter stated. “Our process was designed with the assumption that our members would conduct themselves honorably and with care. Regretfully, in several instances, that has not occurred. “This means that all membership intake activities shall be and are hereby suspended until further notice.”

One man, 21-year-old Bryson Trumaine Amey, was charged with felony aggravated battery in connection with an incident that Fort Valley police say occurred on the evening of Nov. 29. The incident left 19-year-old Brian Tukes hospitalized. Tukes, a 2008 graduate of Westside High School in Macon, was diagnosed with acute renal failure and admitted to the Houston Medical Center on Nov. 30. He was later transferred to The Medical Center of Central Georgia. He has since been discharged.

Efforts to reach Tukes and Amey were unsuccessful Monday.

The incident report mentions that the suspect or suspects apparently used their hands, fists or other body parts to physically assault Tukes at the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity house at 603 Carver Drive. The report says the hazing went on from Sept. 10 to Dec. 1. Information on the incident report for 14 people listed as witnesses was redacted.

Tukes’ mother, Phyllis Tukes, informed university officials of her son’s allegation. The university then alerted the Fort Valley Police Department, which is handling the investigation. The department will hand its findings over to Peach County District Attorney Cliff Woody, who will determine whether other charges will be filed.

Mason said in a statement after the Fort Valley incident that his organization saw hazing as an act against the entire Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and that the group’s reputation would be upheld through legal avenues against wrongdoers.

No such legal action has been substantiated. Other than the earlier statement and the letter sent to members over the weekend, the fraternity has been mum on the subject.

Brian Joseph Anthony Kelly, spokesman for the fraternity out of its national office in Baltimore, said by phone Monday that answers to several questions, including what incidents contributed to the decision to halt intake and whether all were related to physical hazing, would be sent via e-mail. By Monday night, that e-mail had not been received.

To contact writer Marlon A. Walker, call 256-9685.

RELATED:

Crystallizing the BGLO Debate

Phi Beta Sigma Slapped with $97 Million in Hazing Death

Zeta Phi Beta Chapter Expelled for Hazing

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Mo’Kelly, in observance of Halloween, Dia De Los Muertos…whatever…has put his cinematic skills to work one more time.  Mo’Kelly will not be posting any poll as to whether this video is classless, tasteless or goes too far.

Mo’Kelly is already clear on the matter…it does.  It’s politically incorrect to be sure.  So let’s just get that out of the way right now.  But given Sheryl Undersnipes’ sordid sense of humor, we should be able to assume she can handle it.

With no further ado, please dim the lights…The First Time Mo’Kelly Ever Saw Sheryl’s Face: A Horror Story

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Mo’Kelly, in observance of Halloween, Dia De Los Muertos…whatever…has put his cinematic skills to work one more time.  Mo’Kelly will not be posting any poll as to whether this video is classless, tasteless or goes too far.

Mo’Kelly is already clear on the matter…it does.  It’s politically incorrect to be sure.  So let’s just get that out of the way right now.  But given Sheryl Undersnipes’ sordid sense of humor, we should be able to assume she can handle it.

With no further ado, please dim the lights…The First Time Mo’Kelly Ever Saw Sheryl’s Face: A Horror Story

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Ella Scarborough

Prominent member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, great-niece of Dr. Mary McLeod-Bethune, former Charlotte City Council member and mayoral candidate is now under investigation by the North Carolina state attorney general in relation to dealings with the Charlotte Black Women’s Caucus.

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CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Ella Scarborough is known best for being the first African-American to win an at large seat on Charlotte City Council and for being the democrat to take on Mayor Pat McCrory.

These days Scarborough heads the Black Women’s Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg and that organization is  the subject of a probe launched by the North Carolina State Attorney General’s office.

In letter obtained by WBTV News, The North Carolina consumer protection division is requesting the organization’s 501 (c) (3) documents, financial statements and bank records going back to 2004.

State officials also want IRS and North Carolina Department of Revenue documents going back to 2004 and fundraising reports from the 2009 Blackberry Brunch and information regarding scholarships awarded by the group.

Full story HERE.

The other shoe has dropped, the next domino has fallen…etc.

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The other shoe has dropped, the next domino has fallen…etc.

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Some time ago, Mo’Kelly offered an editorial on the induction practices of BGLOs and their present state.  Mr. Prince Sherwood of Phi Beta Sigma took the time to put pen to paper to offer an alternative view in response and make the case for a less dire picture depicting Phi Beta Sigma specifically and BGLOs more generally.  As always is the case in The Mo’Kelly Report, ALL (respectfully constructed) viewpoints are welcome and will be given equal space in which to be expressed.  To that end, may I present Mr. Richard Prince of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

Mo’Kelly’s original piece HERE.

Holding On To The Old, While Embracing The New.

The only way I can formulate a response you is to hold on to the old, while embracing the new.  When I listen to the radio here in Tampa, Florida I’m amazed by the “Old School” hip hop mixes going back to Biggie, Tupac and every other rapper from the mid-1990’s. Yet, I clearly remember the birth of hip hop circa the late 1970’s because I was there, deep in the underground movement before the Crash Crew’s mix tape was so hot it made it to the radio. What does this have to do with your article of Greeks selling out?

Everything! It places everything in perspective.

While Greeks like myself can relate to tradition by thinking back to the early1980’s, my younger Greek Brothers and Sisters will consider “old school” tradition to be centered in the 90’s decade. The same can be said of me by a Greek who joined in the 1970’s and of them by someone who joined in the 1960’s, etc all the way back to our Founders.

So it seems that with each passing decade a layer of prestige is peeled off the Black Greek Lettered Organizations, i.e. the privileges and exclusivity of membership; while new layers are added on. (I for one would have never thought Party Walking would replace Stepping, but in some areas it has). And so goes the change in time.  It could be said that Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, (already known as a Fraternity of Firsts: African Presidents; Creation of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, with Omega Psi Phi; Constitutionally Bound Brother/Sister), is embracing change by
inducting high profile people, which puts Phi Beta Sigma on the lips of many who may not have considered joining a BGLO.

OLD SCHOOL TRADITION – Mo’Kelly, I share your irritation when I see high school students stepping and carrying on customs traditionally reserved for college Fraternities. I’ve learned to accept the change by understanding the influence BGLO’s have on these kids and if one more student makes it to collegeas a result of emulating Black Greeks then it makes me a proud Sigma Man.  It should be said that over the past five years 100% of our Sigma Beta youth group in Tampa have gone on to attend four year Universities, and though it wasn’t required, some have even joined Phi Beta Sigma. There is a certain feeling with seeing a young man grow and develop through your Sigma Beta Club only to come back a few years later as your Fraternity Brother.

1980’s HAZING – There were some schools that had admirable initiation practices, [mine being one of them. In nearly 30 years of Greek life there has been zero instances of hazing suspensions at Stony Brook University]. By design, pledging is meant to break down an individual, strip them of their personality and character flaws and build them up into a Sigma, Kappa, Omega or Alpha Man. Same is true with Sororities, but as the Black Panthers gave way to the Crips & Bloods, some gangland mentality permeated their way into our Greek system and degraded our initiation practices to nothing more than a gangland beat down. The result, as you noted in your article, was the abolishment of pledging altogether. Unfortunately we threw out the Good with the Bad and joining a Fraternity or Sorority further lost a significant amount of symbolism.

CAPITALISM / CORPORATE GREED – So now you have members in the Divine Nine whose value systems are farther apart from our founders and more aligned with commercialization. People run for office within their Fraternity/Sorority not for the love and advancement of their organization, but for the opportunity to misappropriate funds, embezzle and otherwise pad their resume. These people are already looking ahead at their next conquest and
leave no lasting legacy. I’m sure each member of the Divine Nine can point to at least one individual whose advancement in their organization was more for political gain rather than safeguarding and advancing their organizations. It is what it is and the only message I have for critics is step up or shut up.

SHERYL UNDERWOOD – Is a professional celebrity. We each have at least one in our respective organizations, but she has stepped up to the plate, showing her love for Zeta and took the reigns of the organization. I’ve had the opportunity to see her at our recent Conclave in New Orleans and trust that Zeta Phi Beta is in good hands.Now, has Arthur Ashe ever been Grand Polemarch of Kappa Alpha Psi? Will Michael Jordan, or Bill Cosby ever run Omega Psi Phi? Besides Ms. Underwood for Zeta, has there ever been an instance when a high profile figure also served as President of their Fraternity or Sorority? And trust me, Soror Underwood is all about business when it comes to Zeta. If you want to see jokes then purchase a ticket to the Improv.

In Closing;
What exactly “Does it say when the latest round of Phi Beta Sigma honorary inductees, only the White man – Bill Clinton – has a degree from an accredited four-year college or university? Mo’Kelly says it won’t be long before all of us are irrelevant, then extinct.”

(On the contrary).

What it says is Phi Beta Sigma has (1) reinvented itself to such a significant extent as to be deemed worthy of membership by high profile people in government, science and media arts and, (2) we continue to be the Vanguards of
the Divine Nine.  Finally, if the term honorary is so offensive, why not ask the dignitaries of our respective organizations to return and/or decline the many honorary PhD’s that are conferred not as a measure of academic achievement, but for life time achievements.

The author of this article, Prince Sherwood, is the Vice President of the Tampa Alumni Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. The Tampa Alumni Chapter is also the recipient of the 2009 Southern Regional Chapter of the Year Award and repeated that distinction at the 2009 Conclave by receiving the Model Chapter of the Year. Visit us on the web at www.tampasigmas.com or contact the chapter at info@tampasigmas.com.