DR’s Father's Day 2020 Message
Happy Father’s Day Brothers,
As we approach Father’s Day, I ask that you all continue to be the strong Head of the Household and be a great role model for your children. I’m greatly concerned that too many of the younger generation are “caught in the fell clutch of circumstance” due to our current climate in society. We as Black Men, continue to suffer disproportionately from health issues, violence, racism, and injustice. Because of our “trials & tribulations”, our rightful roles as parents, protectors, and providers are heavily affected.
It’s important to not confuse our children’s ability to survive in your absence with their need to thrive in your presence. You must reject the commonly accepted notion that while motherhood is necessary, fatherhood is optional, superfluous; a luxury reserved only for a fortunate few children. My task to my Brothers is to continue to “Show UP and Show Owt!”
After all, time is rare and the demands on your agenda and attention can seem never-ending. When all is said and done, neither you nor your children will remember that big business deal you closed. What they will remember is whether you showed love and appreciation for them and made the sacrifices to be involved in their lives, both for special occasions and on a day-to-day basis. It’s about you being present. Love is all about showing up.
In June of 2009, President Barack H. Obama held a Fatherhood Town Hall meeting in the White House to address his Administration’s concerns and commitment towards the crisis on fatherhood and mentoring responsibilities plaguing the country. Omega Man, Brother Thabiti Boone, as a result of being a part of that town hall meeting, brought the idea of to the fraternity to support and partner with the President’s administration concerning the fatherhood and mentoring initiatives. Ultimately, this became an initiative Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated charged each of its chapters to enact on a local level. We must not forget our commitment and stay determined that this mission would be to strengthen the effectiveness of fathers in the fraternity and community by providing enrichment programs and opportunities that increase the quality and quantity of time invested in our roles as fathers, mentors and facilitators.
I would like to say Happy Father’s Day to my dad Mr. Robert C. Morgan, United States Navy Retired. He served three tours in Vietnam on gunboats.
Please enjoy your Father’s Day!
My Brothers, we celebrate you. Not just on Father’s Day, but every day. I remind you of our mission, our call, OUR GOAL!
DR’s Juneteenth 2020 Message
Brothers,
As the nation suffers from the police brutality, the COVID-19 outbreak, and political injustice, we must remember today is Juneteenth (The word is a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth”) which commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas and the nation’s ”second” Independence Day. This day now more widely represents the emancipation of enslaved African Americans across the US following the civil-war and its violent aftermath.
On 19 June 1865, roughly 2,000 Union Army soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that enslaved people were now free. In his order, Union Army Major General Gordon Granger announced that “the people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free”.
“This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor,” he continued.
But the announcement arrived more than two years following then-president, Abraham Lincoln ‘s Emancipation Proclamation, which signaled the end of slavery in the United States but did not end the enslavement of all people in the nation at the time, contrary to its legacy and evocative language.
For African Americans communities in America, justice has often been delayed. Whether it’s waiting almost 90 years for the promise of the Fourth of July to be fulfilled, or a year and a half for the Emancipation Proclamation to have the force of law. It’s this very history that makes it so important to celebrate Juneteenth. Slavery was an abomination and it took a war to end it, but it did end. Jim Crow enshrined racism and prejudice in our laws, but the Civil Rights movement put an end to Jim Crow. Today, Black and Brown people still experience racism every day at every level of American life and face violence at the hands of the police.
My Brothers, I ask you remember the past to understand our FUTURE!
In Friendship,
Brother Conrado B. Morgan
District Representative
Third District, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
(e-mail) 3rdDistrictDR@OPPF.Org
DR’s Memorial Day 2020 Message
Brothers,
On Memorial Day, this day is marked with solemn commemoration and honoring the men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. military. There are usually parades, flag ceremonies, and other formal recognitions on Memorial Day each year. In 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, no parades and no ceremonies will be conducted. What would have been a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, with bands playing patriotic music, wreaths laid at memorials, honor guards carrying flags and buglers playing taps will, in effect, be a virtual Memorial Day.
We will still pay tribute to our Fallen Veterans’ contributions to American Freedom, it should remind all who hear the phrase "Freedom isn't Free"! These are not just words, they are a value, a belief in the way of life that puts service for others above self. The American people cannot and should not ever forget what these Heroes did for us! We as a nation must keep faith with all our fallen Heroes and our Veterans. This then begs the question "How do we honor those who've sacrificed for us and our country?”
As we know, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. has established March 12th of each year as Memorial Day. On this day, each chapter is expected to conduct an appropriate service to recall the memory of those members who have entered into Omega Chapter. We as Omega Men honor those lost in the way we care for those who returned home—and for their families and survivors. Thank you for all that you do for Veterans. It is a privilege to serve with each one of you in fulfilling our sacred mission.
On this Memorial Day, may God bless our Fraternity, the Third District, and our Veterans!
In Friendship,
Brother Conrado B. Morgan
District Representative
Third District, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
