Greetings Brothers!

Greetings Brothers!

In May of 1946 Robert Lewis Gill, long time Professor of History and Government at Morgan State College, former Grand Historian, and author of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and the Men Who Made Its History a Concise History (1963), published a paper titled, The Walls of Educational Inequality Slowly Crumble (Click here to download). Brother Gill's treatise highlights the limited opportunities for blacks at the time to pursue higher education and the fight on judicial and legislative fronts to disrupt that reality for the better. He discusses the impact judges and legislators had, or could have had, on that disruption. As we are in the midst of arguably one of the most consequential congressional and presidential elections of our time, I was struck by Gill's relevant and timely historical point of reference, which underscores the importance of our extraordinary involvement in this upcoming and all future elections.

A lifetime ago I co-owned a daytrading firm that specialized in providing electronic access to the NASDAQ and DOW to individuals interested in trading stocks. This activity was by no means investing. The objective was to pocket a profit by taking advantage of intraday or short-term changes in stock prices. During this time I became intrigued with understanding patterns in stock price movements that were predictors  of momentum in one direction or the other. Stock price oscillations were/are known as stochastics and, depending on a variety of market factors, these stochastics will trend in a particular direction and will sometimes form patterns that precede movement upward or downward. One such pattern is commonly known as the "cup and handle." NASDAQ defines the "cup and handle" this way:

(Here is another explanation and visual - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cupandhandle.asp)

Whenever a stock broke out of a pattern to the high side, we would say it was reaching higher highs.  What a great concept! 

Martin Luther King, Jr. said "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice," which he paraphrased from Theodore Parker, a 19th century abolitionist minister. Others have subsequently made a similar reference to "the arc of history."  I guess my problem with that metaphor (and perhaps I'm being too literal) is that the path of an arc bends back on itself. Depending on where you begin on the arc, what was once ascending eventually descends. What was at one time progressive becomes regressive. When you compare our current civic and political circumstance to what Brother Gill chronicled in 1946, it seems "the arc of history" metaphor applies. That said, I'd like to believe that however jagged, the upward trend of progress better describes history's path. Sweatt v. Painter (see Gill paper) was a breakout moment. Perhaps the 2020 elections will be the handle to this current cup of retrenchment.

Judges matter. Congressmen and congresswomen matter. Consolidation matters. Breakouts matter.

Higher highs matter.

Make it a great week Brothers. Be noble!
 
F.I.E.T.T.S.
3rd District History and Archives Committee
___________________________________
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.

Greetings Brothers!

A synonym for the word ample is the word abundant, which means present in great quantity; more than adequate; over-sufficient. Synonyms for the word lamp include the words light and beacon. This weekend, the brothers of the Third District's Northern Area 1 celebrated the amplest of lamps. A standard bearer of Friendship and Fraternity. We celebrated our Friend, Frank Byron "Frankie P" Patterson (15-62-A). He was a Friend to many and a Friend to the Fraternity. He understood the genius of our fraternal constructs and let them manifest unconditionally in his soul. We miss you Frankie. Although we'd like to believe you're enjoying well-deserved rest, we also know yours is an Omega spirit ever-toiling to bring about something better. We see your light.

Homework Assignment - There is a passage in the 1948 Lampados Club Pledge Manual and Work Book that I believe Frankie P embodied and wants us all to revisit. Please go to the Third District Archive and follow the instructions for requesting artifact 30.2019.26.1 located at https://3rddistrictques.pastperfectonline.com/archive/6AE1F5BA-DC09-44AD-B7FE-116612697996. Revisit.

I revisited some of the notes documenting the planning of Frankie's Celebration of Life - an impressive demonstration of brotherly cooperation - Frankie would be proud. I've attached the program for the event. Our history is the collection of our individual biographies.Frankie made one hell of a contribution to the Omega story. Remember and be motivated.

Read More - Frank Byron Patterson (15-62-A) Celebration of Life

Make it a great week Brothers. Be noble!

F.I.E.T.T.S.
3rd District History and Archives Committee
___________________________________
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.

Greetings Brothers!

In late 1955 early 1956 Omega's full-throated support of the NAACP's fight for first class citizenship was no coincidence. While the uninitiated might describe it simply as a natural culmination of events, the initiated know better. Woodson, Just, Cobb, and Looby, to name a few, were Omega men rooted in the noble cause of uplift and were, therefore, drawn to the NAACP as much as the NAACP was drawn to them. The Omega in them (Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance, and Uplift) made the Omega-NAACP relationship a symbiotic one. In 1955, Roy Wilkins, another in a long line of Omega's to lead and/or influence the NAACP in its purpose, became the organization's Executive Secretary. He would serve in that capacity for eight years and in 1964 become the organization's Executive Director until his retirement in 1977. His story is an important one to know.

I've clipped several articles that appeared in the Oracle from 1956-1981. If you are short on time, take something else off your schedule so you can read them all. If you can't bring yourself to make the requested prioritization, definitely check out the Winter 1976 and the Winter 1981 clippings. The latter includes Brother Wilkins' obituary written by Brother Langston Hughes. I like it because it captures the person of Roy Wilkins as much as it does the accomplishments of Roy Wilkins, of which there were many. We all benefited from his enlightened self-interest.

The articles can be downloaded by clicking on this link https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kxUmari-AeZicbABxpyJcBPs8l8UumAN. I've also included a 1956 letter from Milo C. Murray who was then serving as Chairman of the National Social Action Committee. From bridge building to brotherly cooperation. It's all in there.

Finally, if you get a chance, check out these clips I found on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzzCe8KFQpc 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLjO5205HSY  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJBsL6KWpfY 


Make it a great week Brothers. Be noble!

F.I.E.T.T.S.
3rd District History and Archives Committee
___________________________________

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.

Greetings Brothers!

Congratulations to all the Brothers from the Third District who received service award recognitions at the 1st Annual Moses C. Norman, Sr. Leadership Conference. You are living history.

While participating in the Saturday Worship and Rededication Service, I was moved by Grand Chaplain Rev. Dr. Walter T. Richardson's remarks in which he talked about three distinct types of Brothers - The Casual Brother, the Cultural Brother, and the Committed Brother. I'm sure there was at least one of each among those receiving service awards this time around. Brother Richardson caused me to think about the category in which I belonged. I was most impressed by Brother Richardson's description of the Committed Brother, the fulcrum of which revealed the extent of one's relative marginality in Omega, and hoped one day brothers would count me in the Committed Brother number. I have a long way to go, I'm sure.

Throughout the rest of that morning I thought less about myself and began thinking more about others who measured up to Brother Richardson's Committed Brother definition and who, therefore, I might draw inspiration.

I then found myself enjoying the service awards during the undergraduate luncheon. At a similar event the previous day, I had the pleasure of sitting next to my chapter brother, Charles Briggs. As always, I enjoyed our conversation during which he shared with me that he was looking forward to receiving his 50-year recognition the following day. A day later I found myself sitting next to Brothers Amos Townsend, Rob Warren, and the legendary Bombay, As the program went on, I heard Brother Grand KRS, Mark Jackson, call the name of former District Representative, James R. Clark, Sr. who was there to receive his 70-year recognition. As I watched Brother Clark walk up to receive his recognition, I was at once moved and inspired. I was in the presence of the Committed - Clark, Briggs, Townsend, Warren, and Bombay. These and many others were the men Brother Richardson was talking about earlier that morning - never on the margins.

Congratulations Brother Clark. I'm told that in addition to serving the Third District as its 14th District Representative, you have served as KRS of Delta Omega Chapter for some 38 years. Now that is history! Thank you for your example.

Make it a great week Brothers. Be committed!

F.I.E.T.T.S.
3rd District History and Archives Committee
___________________________________
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.

Greetings Brothers!

This week’s Monday Pearl celebrates this day for two important reasons: 1) July 8th is the birthday of fellow History and Archives Committee member, Brother Terrence Spence (3-18-Delta Omega), and 2) on this date 95 years ago (1924) Brother William DeHart Hubbard won the gold medal in the long jump at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France. In doing so, Hubbard became the first Black American to win an individual Olympic gold medal. The latter occurrence is unquestionably significant and exemplary of the best of Omega; and something tells me the former will also inure to the benefit of Omega in time – in my assessment, it already has. A warm reflection and fraternal nod of respect to our good Brother in Omega Chapter and a Friendly happy birthday to Brother Spence.

In true Omega fashion and in honor of his birthday, we put Brother Spence to work. Ever-dutiful, our good Brother has obliged us with the following illuminations on the life and contributions of Brother William DeHart Hubbard.

1. Selected articles from past Oracles - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Zo7M39A50-BUIEEpg4Iz_e0li0AFwcR9
2. https://arthurashe.ucla.edu/2016/07/08/william-dehart-hubbards-leap-toward-gold/
3. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33622216/hubbard1926nya/
4. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33621643/the_cincinnati_enquirer/ - 1927
5. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33621836/hubbard1946/
6. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33621729/hubbard1947/
7. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33622484/hubbard1959humanrights/
8. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33621693/press_and_sunbulletin/ - 1991
9. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33621428/hubbard2003/
10. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33621550/hubbard2007/
11. https://studentlife.umich.edu/content/william-dehart-hubbard

Although I was aware of his accomplishments as a world-class athlete, I was pleased to learn about his endeavors as an owner of the first Negro Leagues baseball team in Cincinnati, Ohio – the Tigers – and that he was a life-long champion for housing, education, and civil rights, as well as a member of the first group of Omegas to develop the Fraternity’s National Social Action Program.

Make it a great week Brothers. Be noble!

F.I.E.T.T.S.
3rd District History and Archives Committee
___________________________________