I have the distinct honor and privilege to serve as the 40th International President of one of the greatest fraternities ever established; and Omega Psi Phi is a unique brotherhood with a storied past and exciting future. As such, I fully embrace the opportunity to present the story of our esteemed fraternity through words, images, and personal reflection to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The legacy of Omega Psi Phi fraternity was kindled through a deep friendship shared by three undergraduates who were students at Howard University. The warmth of brotherhood preceded the stormy evening of November 17, 1911. During this historic era, Oscar Cooper, Frank Coleman, and Edgar Love were good friends, scholars, and visionaries.
These men, in collaboration with faculty advisor Ernest E. Just, created a bond that would last a lifetime.
A legacy that would give birth to generations of leaders on campus, in corporate board rooms, in government, on the battlefield, and throughout the political and civic landscape.
My mission, as international president, is to make our communities better. Our goal as men of Omega is to make a positive difference wherever our chapters are chartered and brothers assemble. Our ranks are replete with more than 120,000 college-educated men and we stand at the vanguard of addressing critical issues including but not limited to mentorship, poverty, economic inclusion, and social and political change.
As Omegas, we join the vociferous chant for improved relations between police and the minority community. Critical to our influence are police chiefs and safety force administrators that are Omega men. Moreover, our fraternal and sorority partners within the "Divine Nine" echo Omega's clarion call for justice.
Collectively, we observe with considerable interest, the present-day investigation and subsequent adjudication of cases pertaining to Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Robert Scott and regrettably, many others who are yet to be named.
In large number, Omega men support common sense legislation like requiring all police officers to be equipped with body cameras. Indeed, Omega’s Supreme Council encourages chapters to host and participate in forums in partnership with law enforcement agencies, while also steadfastly holding police brass accountable for hiring, training, and policing free from racial bias.
It is disheartening to repeatedly witness the malevolence inflicted on the defenseless, by those sworn to protect. Conversely, it is disturbing to comprehend what the black community is doing to itself.
Black-on-black crime must stop. It is incumbent that we teach young men and women of color to value, appreciate, and respect differences; and to strongly repudiate the mindset where our youngsters believe the only resolution or recourse to any disagreement is resort to a lethal response.
Our existence as a race of people depends upon realizing we are on a path toward complete self-destruction. Omega’s work with the Fatherhood Initiative and other mentoring programs, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) are critical to this objective.
Current high school graduation rates nationwide are at an all-time high of 80 percent.
However, when broken down among black and brown, male minority students only graduate a paltry 40 percent.
Clearly, this condition must change. Our brotherhood accepts the challenge to ensure young minority teens have a positive male influence that will stress the importance of education and vocation. We must hold those responsible for satisfactory instruction accountable to guarantee funding is distributed with parity. There must be support for high performing schools and the human and financial capital to revive low performing school systems.
The fraternity has a line-item for scholarships and collegiate endowments. Nonetheless, we still need to support those that are non-scholars. Every child deserves a quality education despite his or her circumstance. Through non-partisanship, we must demonstrate our commitment to those who make a positive difference in our community.
We invite those familiar with Omega’s mission to join us in our celebration and future work. For persons unfamiliar with our mission, you should know our purpose is to create an environment where Omega men vastly improve the experience of the minority population through affiliation and network.
I salute my brothers of Omega as we represent the fraternity in a magnanimous way.
As a servant leader, I charge us to hold the banner of Omega high.
Because it is our duty, responsibility, and honor to keep our lamp shining bright for centuries to come.
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