Black Women Denouncing Their Membership In Historically Black Sororities (Article Excerpt & Selected Comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents an article excerpt and selected comments from the June 8, 2024 Washington Post  article by Samantha Chery entitled "Influencers are denouncing their Black Greek groups as ‘demonic’ ".

This pancocojams compilation particularly focuses on some comments that mention politics and on some comments that mention comparisons between historically Black Greek letter organizations and historically White Greek letter organizations.  

The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Samantha Chery for this article and thanks to all those who are quoted in this pancocojams post.

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ARTICLE EXCERPT - "INFLUENCERS ARE DENOUNCING THEIR BLACK GREEK GROUPS AS 'DEMONIC" 
 Influencers are denouncing their Black Greek groups as ‘demonic’ By Samantha Chery

June 8, 2024 at 7:54 p.m. EDT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2024/06/08/black-greek-divine-nine-d9-denounce/

"The “Divine Nine,” a group of prestigious Black fraternities and sororities, is contending with hundreds of videos accusing them of idolatry or worse.

When Candace Junée was a senior at Washington University in St. Louis, she walked into a dark, candlelit room and knelt on a pillow as she prepared to join Alpha Kappa Alpha, the world’s oldest Black Greek-letter sorority.

[…]

Junée didn’t think much about the ceremony until a year after she graduated, in 2015, when she joined a new church and heard members say Christians shouldn’t belong to Black sororities and fraternities like hers. Already inactive in her sorority’s activities, she told The Washington Post, she revoked her membership privately through prayer. Then last year, after some of Junée’s acquaintances told her God wanted her to leave AKA permanently, she posted videos on YouTube and TikTok calling the rituals she went through “openly demonic” and the sorority a breeding ground for “idolatry.”

She is part of a growing number of people who have publicly denounced their affiliation with a group of the largest historically Black sororities and fraternities, the National Pan-Hellenic Council or “Divine Nine.” There are hundreds of videos in the same vein as Junée’s, either condemning the groups as anti-Christian and paganist, or defending them from those accusations.

Renouncements go back decades in Black Greek-life communities, but public denouncements of the groups have become especially prominent on social media, where confessional-type videos crop up regularly with massive audiences. The phenomenon has riled many of the Divine Nine’s 2.7 million members and drawn criticism from prominent group members who view many of the denouncers as misinformed, distracting from the work Black fraternities and sororities have done in their communities.

Delta’s international president Elsie Cooke-Holmes told The Post that less than 1 percent of its members choose to leave, and that the sorority “will not be distracted from our audacious social justice and civil rights agenda, especially in a consequential election year — where our democracy hangs in the balance.”

The NPHC declined to comment on the denunciations, and The Post did not receive a response from the top leadership of eight of the nine organizations: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity.

Black Greek-letter organizations formed in the 20th century as havens of sisterhood and brotherhood for college students who were generally discriminated against and barred from joining existing sororities and fraternities. The groups continue to be fixtures in Black culture, holding fundraisers, voter registration drives and stepping and strolling performances. “Crossing” into one of the organizations through a mix of public and secretive rituals has facilitated lifelong career connections and friendships, and a sense of connection to famous Divine Nine members such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who pledged to Alpha Phi Alpha and Vice President Harris, an AKA.

It’s unclear how much the relatively high rate of religiosity among Black Americans, as found by the Pew Research Center, has to do with the denunciations, which have appeared online for at least a decade and spread by word-of-mouth before the internet. All of the Divine Nine groups have Christian clergy members, such as Arline-Bradley, who considers the groups “biblically based” but not religious.

[…]

Lawrence Ross, who coined the phrase “Divine Nine” and wrote a book on its history, became an Alpha Phi Alpha member at the University of California at Berkeley in 1985. He remembers that some students would leave after joining Bible studies in which their involvement in the fraternity was questioned.

The grandson of a minister and the immediate past president of Alpha Phi Alpha’s Inglewood, Calif., chapter, Ross said public denunciations have the “intellectual nutritional value of a Snicker[s] bar.”

“We live in an age where we’re looking for quick bursts of notoriety,” he said. “It really does feel a little bit narcissistic in terms of how this is manifesting itself in terms of the public facing, ‘I’m doing this thing.’ … which in its essence tells me that the person really shouldn’t have been a member of the organization in the first place.”…

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THAT ARTICLE'S COMMENT SECTION

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2024/06/08/black-greek-divine-nine-d9-denounce/

A total of 707comments are published in that section. Comments are now closed. 

All of these comments are from June 10, 2024. Numbers have been added for referencing purposes only

1. Bsquare
Make no mistake, this is a fringe movement, not a mainstream one and it only feels more prominent or emergent because of the way social media and video are throwing fuel on the fire. As was noted in the article, the percentage of people who actually formally leave (for any reason) is around 1%. That's not national news.

My main question is why this article is filled with glamorous photos of the critics who filmed these long videos and wrote books (and thus profit in various ways from taking this position) but has zero photos of the quoted sources who defend the groups (nor the famous, iconic figures cited in the article who were proud members). The art selection alone shows poor journalistic judgement.

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2. Mo-RFD
..."the pink binder she received with AKA’s rules, regulations and pledges was co-opting scripture verses.

That sounds like every organization with a religious connection (Christian or otherwise) including most Greek organizations no matter their "color."

I think the real issue, why this has become an issue, was the description of the sorority's purpose. Read this carefully.

... the sorority “will not be distracted from our audacious social justice and civil rights agenda, especially in a consequential election year — where our democracy hangs in the balance.”

Social justice? Civil rights agenda? Democracy?

Hmm, could there be a political party who is against those concepts? Who would like to turn people away from working towards just high ideas and thus say such groups are, say, anti-Christian?

Join the MAGA megachurch and realize your place in society... supporting Trump which means not supporting social justice, not supporting civil rights, and definitely not supporting democracy."
-snip-
The italics was originally used in this article to indicate quoted. The bold font was originally used in this comment to emphasize words.."

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3. Dmpfromva
I think the reporter got snookered here. Smells like "content creators seeking fame and fortune," if not Bannon's "flood the zone" tactic for creating confusion and dissension to benefit the hard right White -- this time directed at successful Black organizations."

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4. TransparentTruth
"Dumb article, dumb people.

First off, every presidential election year, the folks who don't want black folk to vote always float something to try to distract black folk.

When Hillary ran it was her use of the phrase Super Predators

When Biden ran it was the argument of American blacks and Carribean blacks who came to America after the Civil rights movement

Now this year it's this mess.

It won't work whomever started this mess. The number is up to 200 people denouncing?

Let me give you a clue, if you are truly a member, you are issued a membership and number. Every organization has that information. So when the organizations decide to address this, they will definitely tell you how many where really members.

Secondly, you would not openly print their induction process either.

Just really dumb on WAPO part to even print this."

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5. Tessa J Jackson
"As someone who’s been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority for 35 years, I was curious about this movement encouraging people to publicly renounce their membership in the historically-Black fraternities and sororities colloquially known as the Divine Nine (or “D9” for short), and subsequently denounce them as demonic cults. My research led me to a website with links to sermons from an assortment of Black megachurch pastors encouraging Blacks to renounce their membership in not just the D9, but a host of other historically-Black organizations—including Jack and Jill, an organization that supports Black parents. When I decided to check out the pastors, I went to their church websites, and was always presented with either an opportunity to financially support their ministry, buy their books or sign up for one of their fee-based programs. A perusal of their social media pages, usually showed them and their wives, often referred to as the “first lady”, dressed in expensive clothing and enjoying lifestyles that would be out of reach for the vast majority of Blacks, even those of us in D9 organizations. In one case I saw a first lady enjoying what appeared to be a congregation-hosted, cowboy-themed 55th birthday party that must have cost thousands of dollars.

What I gleaned from my trip down the rabbit hole is that these denouncers and renouncers are often the same people spending thousands of dollars a year on love offerings, anniversary celebrations and birthday parties for megachurch pastors and first ladies, and that the Black clergy encouraging them to renounce their D9 memberships are probably more concerned about eliminating competition for Black social and philanthropic dollars than they are about saving Black souls."
 
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6. SpirantMars7843
"Every story can't be a long investigation, but this does leave a whole lot to be desired. Only two organizations, both sororities, are referenced here with anecdotes. Hard to tell if this is a real "thing" or just limited to sororities, and only then in small numbers. And, it also seems sort of narrow to only look at it from the black Greek perspective. Also hard to believe that this story was done without venturing over to the campus of Howard University, where some of these organizations were founded, to get some perspective."

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7. Shardanacles
"I get the feeling most of those denouncing their Greek membership are voting for Trump. So...."

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8. Innocuous Commentator 
"Why is this coming up now? Are right wingers finding all kind of ways to trash VP Harris for being an AKA?"

A Republican friend told me recently that a bunch of wealthy Black people (including Oprah) belonged to the Illuminati. SMH.

Who is making up this stuff?"

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9. VegasTed
"This is not unique to the black Greek system. I remember being in seminary and some fellows got very “convicted” and renounced their membership in the Masons, Shriners, Eagles, and other various predominantly white fraternities.

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10. appelerunchatunchat
"Thank you for this article with so many details from a very sane normal person getting clicks claiming joining a sorority was somehow worshipping a Roman goddess. (Sarcasm.). I’d bet money there is a pile of money and influence hidden behind the scenes here creating this trend."

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11. Travel is my life
"Oh good grief. When I was in college I belonged to a sorority full of white girls - a sorority that was started in the south. We had secret initiation rituals with people holding candles and wearing all white and intoning secret mantras. If people are going to crucify these Black sororities for their rituals, they probably need to target all sororities because my guess is that mine wasn’t the only one with a crazy, secret initiation. Not only that, we have some members (alums) who are pretty well known in news and entertainment circles. Why does this article focus only on Black sororities?"

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Reply
12. LlNancy
"Exactly. I’d be a lot more worried about Skull & Bones’ membership."

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13. MattJones 69
"Is it only black sororities that are being criticized? Are there white women saying the same stuff about white sororities? That would have been helpful context in the article. That way we'd know if there's people criticizing all sororities or if it's specific to black ones."

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14. Summer Alibi
"Oh, for the love of God. Sororities and fraternities have always been like this. I remember hearing my mother recount how her Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters in the 50s marked the occasion of girls announcing they'd been "pinned" (going steady, sort of) or become engaged. Candles, recitations, etc. This was in the 70s and my reaction was 'what the H?' Once I arrived (at the same- almost 100% white, BTW) campus, I found out the same silliness was still going on. Sexist maybe, Satan, nope."

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15. SalemVa
"A bit more info about what is pledged would be helpful in understanding what is considered "demonic" about Greek sororities and fraternities. Also, a contrast as to whether members of non-Black sororities and fraternities have similar concerns about pledging that they determine to have been "demonic." Many words in this article, but little information.

Certain sub-groups of Christians have a deep affection for claiming anything not just like them as "demons". I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Black Christians are as susceptible as White ones.

I'm reminded of how the KKK denounced Morris Dees, the SPLC attorney suing the Texas klan out of business, as "Demon Dees". Or how MAGA types declare that any election they lose must be the result of satanic intervention.

The whole thing is silly. Either silly or being exploited for political purposes, which wouldn't surprise me .... is Steve Bannon behind this ..."

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16. ERBrown1913
"Interesting. All these women are in the business of “content creation” which, more often than not, means perpetuating false narratives. The real story is that they joined organizations with the hope of achieving popularity while on campus as opposed to being focused on the mission and principles of their respective organizations, which is to serve mankind as we represent God and His love to the world. We are about the business of uplifting our communities through service and advocacy, which is being about the Lord’s work. And I also recall that even Jesus was accused of being a double agent and casting out demons on behalf of the ruler of demons by those who were jealous and sought to turn people against Him. What was His response? “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” Matthew 12:25-26. So to all these Pharisees disguised as social media content creators, I say, “Get behind me. I rebuke you in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus.” For the rest of us, stay focused. Organizations that have struggled to protect our right to vote and to keep issues of importance to the Black community at the forefront of public discourse for over 100 years are now under attack in an election year. Let’s not be fooled by the ridiculous distractions."

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17. ginkgoranch, June 10, 2024
"The rituals described are similar to those in predominantly white sororities, so it makes me wonder if the phenomena is more widespread. I am not an apologist for Greek college organizations, but their history stems back to their 19th century founding when the symbols, cultural practices and philosophies of ancient civilizations were well known and college students were expected to know them as part of their education. Since the vast majority of college students today take only enough humanities courses to fulfill graduation requirements, my opinion is they don't have the powers of discernment to silo their organization's rituals cobbled from a hodgepodge of ancient mythology by their organization's founders from the teachings of their particular brand of Christianity, which in all cases post dates ancient Greece."

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18. StuckinTexas
"Greek eternities and sororities are, by nature, elitist and exclusionary, but, "demonic"? The obvious retort of "Oh, that's just ridiculous!" doesn't seem to slow their critics down. Maybe those denouncing the Black fraternities and sororities as "demonic" will take the next step and denounce them as "communists". Or is that too out of date?"

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19. 39aka94
"I think a more appropriate title would be "Wanna be influencers are denouncing..." because public posts are made for attention-seeking and most of these people have few followers on social media. The largest views they receive are on these types of proclamation posts. I believe the majority, if not all, of the people who choose to do this genuinely love the Lord and want to serve Him. However, people who love the Lord still come across bad theology and if they are already going through other challenges mentally and/or emotionally, it's easy to be sucked in. The idea of leaving an organization that no longer meets your needs or fits your life is not unheard of or a bad thing. But to proclaim demonic and anti-Christian behaviors are being promoted by Black Greek Letter Organizations is false. I would love to know how a demonic organization, as some are claiming BGLOs to be, is so focused on giving back to the community and uplifting others. Seems pretty incongruous when the Bible states the Enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10)"

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Reply
20. ml3d
"It's the Divine Nine for me - just call them the Nine."

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Reply
21. 39aka94
"Yeah, but 'divine' is not only a term that is about God--and it rhymes which was really the main thing."

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22. Notmyname__31415
"This is a hit piece.

Autopsies of 2020, when they’re done, will almost certainly demonstrate that the Divine Nine provided a massive network/infrastructure boost to get out the vote for Biden/Harris."

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23. Hoosier74
"Such a weird article. I mean, honestly. Sororities have funky, pseudo-religious rituals. Fraternities have funky, pseudo-religious rituals. All of them, regardless of race or creed of the members. Demonic? Nope. Play-acting. I mean, many of the founders of our country were Freemasons and they have their own pseudo-religious initiation rituals. Why not an article on people who abandoned Freemasonry? There are women’s chapters, so do them."

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24. Miss Elb
"Oh please, what about all the crazy things that white sororities and fraternities do?"

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25. Whyy Ben
"Why does this feel like some psyop to further depress the black vote. Who's the most well known black sorority member? VP Kamala Harris.

Please stop reporting on influencers without deeply vetting them..... they get their money from somewhere."

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26. dfrierson_Howard
"With everything going on in the world, the Washington Post found this newsworthy. Denouncers, as the article notes, have been doing this for decades. As a member of one of the Divine Nine organizations for 25 years and a Christian brought up in the Baptist church since birth, I have become quite familiar with these stories. As Ross said, particularly in undergraduate settings, shortly after their initiation, you find a few people who may start attending religious events, are relatively new to Christianity, and/or Bible studies and are quite impressionable. I have always left room for those individuals to follow their newly discovered convictions. However, my issue with this article is how they featured the “denouncers” and their views without truly exploring how they came to these assumptions. How are they Biblically based? What research did they do prior to joining? Most importantly, was there a trauma or person that cultivated this new found revelation about an organization you chose to join? Still, to top it off, you feature these folks in photo shoots. If the Post insist on writing about this topic, providing a basic “hearing from both sides” is not enough. Just like anything else, interrogating a premise or in this case, accusation of “daemonic and/or demigod worship” is needed. Do better."

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27, Cheryl A.E. Parris
"When I see WaPo write something around the influence peddling of Skull and Bones and those who renounce it, then I will pay attention. Meanwhile as I read this, I think about all the times my Sorority members have supported members and issues at the Capital. I think that it may be intimidating, seeing hundreds of Black women who are trained in advocacy, dressed in red suits, attending hearings. They easily catch anyone's eye and some people's ire.

While I hesitate to comment on their faith journey, those media read pictures are interesting"

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28. MetroDCNative70
"So: Washington Post taken over by Murdoch’s former crisis managers. Questionable ethics of these managers highlighted by NPR and New York Times.

WaPo Style section publishes a quasi-hit piece on Black Professional Power Networks - most of which are now over a century-old and at the core of Black survival on White College Campuses and in White College Towns.

Hit-piece is sourced by questionable “social media influencers” who cite their “Christian roots” (that sound suspiciously *different* than most Black Christians) as the basis for their concern and denouncement of the organizations.

Hit piece article drops 5 months prior to a general election where these same power networks will work to defeat the very political movement behind the new WaPo editor’s benefactors.

Sounds odd? Perhaps less far-fetched than random people being cited as sources for an alleged trend of people leaving core organizations in the Black community because of “concerns” over rituals that emerged in dreams."

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Reply
29. Bronx Guy
"You are way, way overthinking this."

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Reply
MetroDCNative70
30."Probably less than the author of this article."

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Reply
31.SoloCidAlpha
"Not in this day and age. Very plausible."

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32. WuDonovan
"Young women of college age seem to have a thing for rituals, here is Flannery O'Connor describing the phenomena in white girls in the 1940s:

"I have noticed that the girls in the local college love to have ceremonies in which they light candles or hold lighted candles—any excuse will do (e.g. physical fitness week). I have decided this is because they have never been to a really liturgical service where these things have their proper place and are relegated to the background and have meaning." Flannery O'Connor, 1957"

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33. Ann Meadows Helvie
"This is sad. I'm White, but I have seen for decades the amazing work that Black sororities and fraternities have done -- and the beautiful, strong, lifelong bonds of friendship and fellowship forged in them. No one is pledging themselves to ancient deities. Since the 18th century, and certainly the 19th century, ancient Greek and Roman deities have been regarded simply as metaphors for civic and secular virtues such as intelligence, diligence, etc."

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34. sisterj
"I am really confused. Why the picking on of Black Divine Nine??? There are more college grads in predominantly White organizations the go through weird rituals.

I suspect some form of racism here by folks who cannot tolerate Black women and men banned together doing good for the poor, for equality, justice issues and promoting excellence in education. These Racists are using a preverted form of Christianity (Trump evangelism?) to brainwash the sincerely, well meaning women mentioned in this article, and through it others to denigrate great organizations. I think the author is a pawn in this racist-evil. Evil always presents itself as a good. I am White and personally know and have worked with, generous, wonderful, civic-minded Black women who are proud members of both Delta and Alpha. There is more to this social media effort than meets the eye."

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35. bigmacinpittsburgh
"Same old same old, divide and then conquer!"

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36.Somethingbitme
"This “demonic” label is being used by both white and black Christian’s in America and it’s spreading like tentacles in every aspect of American life. They are even going so far as labeling people who do not prescribe to their beliefs are themselves demonic and under the influence of the devil."

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37. Alpineview
"This phenomenon is rooted in political propaganda. If you watch some of these videos attacking Black Greek organizations, you will often find links to Black conservative figures openly connecting the "demonic" fraternities and sororities to the Democratic party. It is all part of a cynical ploy to create divisions within the Black community. Black fraternities and sororities have--historically and in recent elections-- been shown to have enormous political influence, and this besmirching of their reputation is a thinly disguised attempt to manipulate Black voters."

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38. deborah
"Black fraternities and sororities have done untold and unsung good for African American communities. If a few members have imagined demons at work, then they and the organizations are better off with them gone. Too bad that social media has given them a platform with which to spread their toxins. Too often, social media foments and feeds paranoia and delusion, especially among the uniformed who are so gullible to conspiracy theories. Sheesh."

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39. FelixLeChat2
"Why would this story not look at comparable organizations to see where the facts lie relative to a baseline? Initiation "rituals" are hokey performance art, probably in nearly all sororities and fraternities including Knights of Columbus and the Masons. This is a New York Post quality article."

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40.michelerc
"Cooncidence that all this is happening during a huge resurgence of overt racism? when we recently had our first Black president who was vilified by far right Christian nationalists? when we have our first person of color VP?

Bet not. Dig into the origins of these rumors, I bet you find somebody's deliberate agenda to further divide us, and weaken/discourage Black voters."

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41. Unfragile Blackness
"Demonic? No.

Elitist? Without a doubt."

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42. S. William Laney
"Saw this coming... when college educated, black women were recognized as influential in the last election I knew the disinformation division of the Republican party would be coming for them."

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Reply
43. Alan Seals
"And what exactly are Republicans doing? Right or wrong (or just nutty) it sounds like these people made up their own minds. Are Republicans dressing up as black sorority sisters to make these videos?"

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Reply
44.Taichione
"You were prescient. Backlash against Black women in power predictable."

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Reply
45. Alpineview
"Exactly. This is part of a deliberate strategy."

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46. PTMESQ
"I really wonder about the true intent of this article and it’s publishing at this time in our nation’s history. And my wondering about the current defiling of Black Greek organizations that have done so much good for well over a century for both their members and the Black community at large, leads me to believe that the etiology of this article is more nefarious than any of the allegations against these beloved organizations that it makes. Do check yourself and your motives, Dear Author. I think you have been willingly used. Bigly."

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Reply
47. pioneer1
"Your local Republican Party and Russian disinformation machine at work."

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48. Pittsburgh Darla
"This tension between churches and fraternal organizations isn’t new or race specific. When I was preparing for confirmation over 55 years ago in a very conservative Lutheran sect, I was taught that Masons, Eastern Star, Rainbow Girls, etc. were not aligned with our beliefs. I’m not weighing in on the validity of the position, just sharing that it’s not new news!"

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49. tidelandermdva
"The mutual hostility between democratic Masonry and authoritarian Catholicism is legendary. Still alive in my Mason father in law and my Catholic father fifty years ago."

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50. BodeBoy
"Is this just Black fraternities and sororities or does this apply to all Greek-lettered organizations?"

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51. tidelandermdva
"It is just a few nutcase attention seekers that for some reason -- Black sororities' social activism? -- the Post's Murdoch regime chose to highlight."

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52. Nell Eakin
"Organization is power. Who is behind the bad mouthing of this black org? Probably the same folks who organized to put their christian cheater fascists into SCOTUS, and who have made up and propagated insane lies concerning BLM..."

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53. MattJones99
This is so weird. Are there people who feel the same about white Greek orgs? If not, then why just black ones. And, "demonic"? What?! I've never heard of anyone accusing any Greek org (black, white, or otherwise) of being "demonic" until reading this. Are these people for real, or are they mentally ill or otherwise seeking attention? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around all of this."

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54. Olive US
"So what about the white Christian men and women--they don't have to renounce any of their greek affiliations? Sounds like these people joined an offshoot cult of Christianity. Step one of any cult is have the pledge cut ties with those most likely to save them from the cult."

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Last of the Republic
"Black Greek-letter organizations formed in the 20th century as havens of sisterhood and brotherhood for college students who were generally discriminated against and barred from joining existing sororities and fraternities. The groups continue to be fixtures in Black culture, holding fundraisers, voter registration drives and stepping and strolling performances.” This has always been my understanding. Welcome to evangelical Christianity. As a former Christian, now atheist, I assure you: there is no devil, nothing to fear, no spiritual wars to be fought, no sin to worry about. Just an opportunity to build lifelong relationships in these organizations and give back to society in a positive way. So glad I left these crazies behind."

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