Behind The Scenes Production, April 26, 2024
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases two YouTube videos of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
An excerpt of an online article about Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and political purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these showcase videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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Kamala Harris, the United States Vice President and the 2024 Democratic nominee for President, became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in 1986 while she was attending Howard University.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
I'm an inactive member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc (Gamma Zeta chapter, New Jersey). I became inactive shortly after I crossed over (officially joined that sorority) toward the end of 1966. I became inactive as I decided to devote my attention to finishing college and working with The Committee For Unified Newark, the afrocentric organization that I had also just joined.
Since that time, the only direct information that I have about historically Black Greek letter organizaions is my attendance at step shows, and knowing friends and other people who have joined these organizations.
One of the main categories of Black history and culture that I focus on in this pancocojams blog is tte history and culture of historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities. For example, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/04/when-did-historically-black-greek.html for the 2015 pancocojams post entitled "When Did Historically Black Greek Letter Fraternity & Sorority Stepping Begin?"
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Notice that in the abbreviation for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the letters AKA are pronounced separately with "a" pronounced as it is in the words "say", "may", "day" etc.
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ARTICLE EXCERPTFrom https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/25/us/aka-alpha-kappa-alpha-kamala-harris-cec/index.html "A look at Alpha Kappa Alpha, the legendary sorority repped by Kamala Harris" by Harmeet Kaur, CNN, July 25, 2024
"As long as she’s been on the political scene, Vice President and likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has proudly repped the salmon pink and apple green of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc.
Alpha Kappa Alpha is a historic African American sorority, founded on the campus of Howard University, Harris’ alma mater. It was the first Black sorority of its kind, and is a part of the “Divine Nine,” a group of Black Pan-Hellenic organizations.
Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha and other groups in the Divine Nine have already rallied to support Harris’ bid for the presidency, networking and organizing to raise millions upon millions of dollars for her campaign. Harris is also a frequent presence at high-profile events, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.’s biennial convention earlier this month.
The sorority has been a critical source of support and
sisterhood not just for Harris, but for the 360,000 some women across the US
and the world that make up its ranks. AKA members are political leaders, civil
rights activists, literary icons and scientists, and the sorority’s cultural
impact has deep, wide-reaching roots.
“When you become a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, you become a member for life,” Danette Anthony Reed, international president and CEO of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. told CNN.
[…]
AKA was founded by Black women at Howard University
Alpha Kappa Alpha, or AKA as it’s familiarly known, was
founded more than a century ago with the aim of connecting and empowering Black
college-educated women. In the years since, AKA has been a springboard for its
members to achieve academic and professional success, as well as leadership
development and personal growth. The organization has also facilitated numerous
community service initiatives across the country.
Groups like Alpha Kappa Alpha were a natural evolution of Greek life on college campuses. The first fraternities and sororities in the US formed in the late 1700s and 1800s as forums where college students could discuss current events and literature outside their strict curriculums, according to Lawrence Ross, author of “The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities.”
Greek life at predominantly White institutions eventually expanded and evolved into social clubs, but it excluded students of color. In the early 1900s, at a time of intense racial segregation and disenfranchisement, African American students at White institutions and historically Black colleges and universities founded the Greek letter organizations that make up the Divine Nine with an additional mission: To uplift each other and all Black people.
“It’s very much centered upon not just the college experience, but the notion that those of us who get college educations have a responsibility — not just to our own selves or our own transformation, but the transformation of our communities,” Ross, a member of the historically Black Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. said.
[…]
Its ranks are filled with luminaries
For all of its accomplishments as an organization, perhaps
the most enduring legacy of Alpha Kappa Alpha is the individual contributions
and achievements of its members.
Women of Alpha Kappa Alpha have populated the highest ranks of their fields, whether in politics, law, literature or science.
Constance Baker Motley was the first female attorney for the Legal Defense Fund and wrote the original complaint in Brown v. Board of Education. The late Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a leading champion of Black American issues in Congress, was an AKA, as was Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison.
Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson — three
Black mathematicians who worked for NASA in the 1950s and were at the center of
the film “Hidden Figures” — also were Alpha Kappa Alphas. NASA astronaut Mae
Jemison, the first African American woman in space, repped the pink and green,
too.
Many more women were initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha as honorary members, including civil rights icon Rosa Parks, jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald and director Ava DuVernay.”…
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - AKA 2019 Probate : Serious Matter - Pi Mu Chapter
pearlfection16, Apr 16, 2019
Pi Mu Chapter - Baylor University
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/10/alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority-inc-chant.html for the pancocojams post entitled "
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.' Chant "This Is A Serious Matter" (information, lyrics, videos)."
That post includes five text (word only) examples of the AKAs' iconic "This is A Serious Matter" chant. I'm sure there are more examples of that chant, each of which including the words "This is a serious matter". ("This" refers to being a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.)
Here's one example of that chant:
THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER (title)
I woke up this morning, jumped out of bed,
looked in the mirror and i SHOOK my pretty head
Okay they say i'm conceited, that is no lie....
I'LL BE A CONCEITED AKA UNTIL THE DAY THAT I DIE!
Pretty in pink, gorgeous in green
Since 1908, We've rained supreme!
This is a serious matter! YES!
This is a serious matter! YES, YES!
Alpha Kappa Alpha! (Alpha Kappa Alpha!)
SWEET AKA! (SWEET AKA!)
The first black sorority (echo)
WE PAVED THE WAY! (echo)
THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER!
-Guest, Fraternity & Sorority Chants and Songs; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=103135&messages=76 ; 3/10/2010
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/10/alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority-inc-chant.html for more videos and text examples of "This Is A Serious Matter", including my description of how this chant is performed.
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