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Black males face a myriad of perplexing issues in the coming years.
We fill up prisons until they’re overflowing. We drop out of high school at an alarming rate. And the homicide pace, led by African-American males as both victims and suspects, is escalating in Kansas City again this year.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the country’s first and largest African-American intercollegiate Greek fraternity, is coming to town to tackle some of those issues this week. The fraternity will have its 102nd anniversary convention Thursday through Monday.
The convention is expected to draw from 3,000 to 5,000 fraternity members to the Kansas City Convention Center and the Kansas City Marriott Downtown. In all, the conclave is expected attract more than 15,000 people over the five days.
And here’s something you may not be aware of.
Darryl R. Matthews, Alpha Phi Alpha’s president, graduated from Southeast High School in 1971, attended Penn Valley Community College and graduated in pre-law from what was then Central Missouri State University in 1977. I recently spoke with Matthews, who considers it a bit of a homecoming.
“I say this with all sincerity,” Matthews said. “I’m a local guy who is very blessed and very fortunate. There are not too many experiences that anyone can have that top being the general president of Alpha Phi Alpha.”
The convention will kick off with a housing development miniconference on Thursday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. A concert featuring Zapp and Friends will be on Thursday night. The fraternity also is having a town hall forum on Saturday titled “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People.”
On Sunday at the public program, Randal Pinkett, an Alpha who is considered the first African-American winner of “The Apprentice,” will discuss entrepreneurial opportunities.
Also, Soledad O’Brien, a senior correspondent for CNN, will be honored Sunday with the Alpha Award of Honor for her work covering issues affecting the black community.
There also will be plenty of discussion surrounding the fraternity’s effort to raise money and awareness for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which will be constructed in Washington.
“That was an effort that was initialized by us,” Matthews said. “It was conceptualized by us. But the momentum doesn’t belong to the Alphas. That’s why we encourage all those who have benefited from Dr. King’s work to give something to the effort.”
Matthews is also passionate about members of the fraternity serving as mentors in their communities.
“We can’t really pretend to be concerned over crime in the inner city if we’re not willing to spend time with a young person,” Matthews said. “It takes one-on-one accountability. You can’t sit back and say my chapter is involved. No, what are you doing?”
Randy Hall, vice president of the fraternity’s Beta Lambda chapter in Kansas City, wants the public to know that proceeds from the public events will go toward the Beta Lambda Educational Institute, which supports local programs that focus on youth.
Alpha Phi Alpha long has stood at the forefront of the fight for civil rights. The public should be pleased that the Alphas chose Kansas City for their national convention. And the city should do all it can to make sure that conventions like it, ones that focus on minority concerns, feel welcome.
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