Greetings Brothers,

At different times in our lives and in different ways Omega has helped to articulate and channel the many noble qualities interwoven in the fabric of the true Omega man – qualities that were in him even before he became Omega. After all, sheep can’t make goat any more than cat can make dog. Thus, the answer to the question, “does Omega make men or do men make Omega?” is that Omega requires, implies, and demands that we manifestly apply the nobility within us to all that we do. But from where do we get our sense of nobility?

This Monday Pearl honors all the mothers who instilled virtue, goodness, honor, honesty, decency, integrity, magnanimity, generosity, selflessness, and bravery in all loyal Sons of Omega and in doing so, instilled the same in Omega. Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all the Mary Matthews Justs (educator, founder of Maryville, and mother of Founder Ernest E. Just), Susie H. (Carr) Loves (mother of Founder Edgar Amos Love and first female graduate of Morgan College), Abbie Mitchell Cooks (mother of William Mercer Cook co-writer of Omega Dear and actress who played Clara in the premier production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess), and Maggie L. Walkers (bank president, newspaper publisher, civil rights activist, and mother of Melvin D. Walker an early member of Zeta Chapter) of the world.  Perhaps Brother Hughes says it best.

The Negro Mother by Langston Hughes

Children, I come back today 
To tell you a story of the long dark way 
That I had to climb, that I had to know 
In order that the race might live and grow. 
Look at my face – dark as the night – 
Yet shining like the sun with love’s true light. 
I am the dark girl who crossed the red sea 
Carrying in my body the seed of the free. 
I am the woman who worked in the field 
Bringing the cotton and the corn to yield. 
I am the one who labored as a slave, 
Beaten and mistreated for the work that I gave – 
Children sold away from me, I’m husband sold, too. 
No safety, no love, no respect was I due.

Three hundred years in the deepest South: 
But God put a song and a prayer in my mouth. 
God put a dream like steel in my soul. 
Now, through my children, I’m reaching the goal. 

Now, through my children, young and free, 
I realized the blessing deed to me. 
I couldn’t read then. I couldn’t write. 
I had nothing, back there in the night. 
Sometimes, the valley was filled with tears, 
But I kept trudging on through the lonely years. 
Sometimes, the road was hot with the sun, 
But I had to keep on till my work was done: 
I had to keep on! No stopping for me – 
I was the seed of the coming Free. 
I nourished the dream that nothing could smother 
Deep in my breast – the Negro mother. 
I had only hope then, but now through you, 
Dark ones of today, my dreams must come true: 
All you dark children in the world out there, 
Remember my sweat, my pain, my despair. 
Remember my years, heavy with sorrow – 
And make of those years a torch for tomorrow. 
Make of my pass a road to the light 
Out of the darkness, the ignorance, the night. 
Lift high my banner out of the dust. 
Stand like free men supporting my trust. 
Believe in the right, let none push you back. 
Remember the whip and the slaver’s track. 
Remember how the strong in struggle and strife 
Still bar you the way, and deny you life – 
But march ever forward, breaking down bars. 
Look ever upward at the sun and the stars. 
Oh, my dark children, may my dreams and my prayers 
Impel you forever up the great stairs – 
For I will be with you till no white brother 
Dares keep down the children of the Negro Mother.

Make it a great week Brothers. Be noble!

F.I.E.T.T.S.
3rd District History and Archives Committee
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The Monday Pearl is provided by the Third District History and Archives Committee and is a weekly sharing of fraternity content, commentary, and research of historical value we hope Brothers will enjoy and from which Brothers will draw inspiration. Previous “Pearls” can be found at http://3rddistrictques.org/about-us/overview/monday-pearl/. The Committee encourages your feedback. Should you have reactions, comments, information, anecdotes, documents, and the like, related to any of the content we share, we’d very much like to hear from you. Please send all communication to 3dhistoryandarchives@gmail.com.