Historically Black Greek Letter Sororities Singing Their National Hymns (Part I- Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.)

 

AKA National Hymn - Phi Omega Omega’s Founder Day Celebration 2024

Karen Lady Kay Hilton Sanders, Jan 15, 2024

Phi Omega Omega & Guest Sorors sing the Alpha Kappa Alpha National Hymn at the 2024 Founders Day Celebration

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a four part pancocojams series that showcases YouTube videos of members of a particular historically Black Greek letter sororities singing their national hymns or other  group songs. The lyrics to these songs aren't included in these posts.

Each of the posts in this pancocojams series showcase two videos of a national hymn or some other song that is sung by members of one historically Black Greek letter sorority that is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the umbrella organization that is composed of those four historically Black Greek letter sororities and five historically Black Greek letter fraternities.

These four sororities are presented in chronological order based on their founding dates with the oldest sorority given first.  

This post presents information about Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and showcases two YouTube videos of members of that sorority singing their national hymn or another song..

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/02/historically-black-greek-letter_26.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about Delta Sigma Theta  Sorority, Inc. and showcases two YouTube videos of members of that sorority singing their national hymn or another song.

Click  https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/02/historically-black-greek-letter_0969828138.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and showcases two YouTube videos of members of that sorority singing their national hymn or another song.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/02/historically-black-greek-letter_54.html for Part IV of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and showcases two YouTube videos of members of that sorority singing their national hymn or another song. The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and thanks to all past and present members of that sorority. Thanks to all of those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who composed these songs and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL (THE DIVINE 9)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Pan-Hellenic_Council
"The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities, commonly called the Divine Nine, and also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs).[1] The NPHC was formed as a permanent organization on May 10, 1930, on the campus of Howard University, in Washington, D.C., with Matthew W. Bullock as the active Chairman and B. Beatrix Scott as Vice-Chairman. NPHC was incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois in 1937.[2]

[…]

History

The National Pan-Hellenic Council was established during the Jim Crow era when Greek letter collegiate organizations founded by white Americans did not want to be affiliated with Greek letter collegiate organizations founded by African Americans.[3]

 The organization's stated purpose and mission in 1930:

' Unanimity of thought and action as far as possible in the conduct of Greek letter collegiate fraternities and sororities, and to consider problems of mutual interest to its member organizations.[4]'

 The founding members of the NPHC were Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta, and Zeta Phi Beta. The council's membership expanded as Alpha Phi Alpha (1931), Phi Beta Sigma (1931), Sigma Gamma Rho (1937), and Iota Phi Theta (1996) later joined.[5]"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOUR SORORITIES THAT ARE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL
From AI Overview (results given on February 15, 2026)

Date joined NPHC

The four historically Black sororities in the National Pan-Hellenic Council (Divine Nine) were founded between 1908 and 1922, with key incorporations following shortly after their founding to establish legal, perpetual status. They are Alpha Kappa Alpha (1908/1913), Delta Sigma Theta (1913/1930), Zeta Phi Beta (1920/1923), and Sigma Gamma Rho (1922/1929).

Here are the details for each sorority

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA): Founded Jan. 15, 1908, at Howard University. It was incorporated on Jan. 29, 1913, to ensure perpetuity.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (DST): Founded Jan. 13, 1913, at Howard University. It was incorporated in 1930.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (ZPhiB): Founded Jan. 16, 1920, at Howard University. It was incorporated in 1923.

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (SGRho): Founded Nov. 12, 1922, at Butler University. It was incorporated in 1929

These organizations were created to foster sisterhood, scholarship, and service, specifically providing support networks for Black women during times of segregation and exclusion from mainstream organizations." 

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INFORMATION ABOUT ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, Inc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Kappa_Alpha
"Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (ΑΚΑ) is a historically African-American sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Alpha Kappa Alpha was incorporated in 1913. It is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), a group of historically Black fraternities and sororities often called the Divine Nine.

In 2025, Alpha Kappa Alpha had more than 365,000 members in 1,085 chapters in the United States and eleven other countries. Women may join through undergraduate chapters at a college or university, or graduate chapters after acquiring an undergraduate or advanced college degree.

[...]

Symbols

The sorority's motto is "By Culture and By Merit".[1] Its colors are salmon pink and apple green.[1] Its symbol is the Ivy leaf and its flower is the pink tea rose.[1] Its publication is the Ivy Leaf magazine.[78]

The term soror, derived from the Latinn for "sister", is used between members of the sorority.^"...

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE 
There are a number of YouTube videos of a member or members of historically Black Greek letter sororities singing their national hymn/s or other songs that members of a particular historically Black Greek letter sorority consider to be their songs. 

In this pancocojams series I'm particularly interested in group renditions of these songs and whether the members of these sororities hold hands while they sing, or wrap their arms behind the back of people standing on either side, or link their arms with the person standing on either side (in the same manner that is commonly used for songs such like as the Civil Rights song "We Shall Over Come" and the song "Aud Lang Syne" that is sung on New Years Eve or during certain other special occasions).

Based on my direct experiences and based on from watching YouTube videos, It appears that for any one of these three gestures a group of people can sing while standing still or they can sing while rhythmically swaying from side to side. 

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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/11/videos-of-kkpsi-fratenrity-three.html for a related 2017 pancocojams post entitled "Videos Of Historically Black Greek Letter Fraternities & KKPsi (Music Fraternity/Sorority) Linking Arms While Singing Their Organization's Hymns"

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - AKA Wedding Serenade (Soror Scharona Grimsley-Dawkins)

Scharona Grimsley-Dawkins, Sep 9, 2015

Beta Pi, Fall 1996; Kappa Pi Omega Chapter, Mu Sigma Omega, Beta Nu Omega, Lambda Zeta Omega, Mu Alpha, Theta Sigma
-snip-
In response to a question in 2017 about why there were so many women singing in this group, Scharona Grimsley-Dawkings (the new bride and the publisher of this video) wrote:
..."it is so many of "them" my beautiful Sorors because they are my coinitiate (line sisters) and current, active financial members from various graduate chapters, general membership."
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This concludes Part I of this four part pancocojams series.

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