The members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in Prairie View join Alphas around the world in commemorating its 114th Anniversary with a special Founders’ Day Observance Program on December 6, 2020. The speaker for the occasion is Dr. W. Gabriel Selassie, I, the first participant in the new Visiting Alumnus Program at Prairie View A&M University since September 2020 on the Zoom Network. The program is open to the public and is being hosted by the Epsilon Tau Lambda (Prairie View), Eta Gamma (PVAMU), Pi Omicron (TAMU) and Pi Alpha Lambda (College Station) Chapters, all members of Area IX of the Fraternity. The fraternity will also hold a re-dedication program for the brothers on Friday, December 4 at 7:00 p.m. on the Zoom Network.
Selassie, a self-proclaimed life long learner, was selected for the program created by President Ruth J. Simmons which provides an opportunity to advance the institution’s mission by welcoming back alumni who can share their unique experiences with students, faculty, and staff. He is working alongside Dr. Simmons on campus projects and learning the administrative relationship between The Texas A&M University System.
Additionally, Selassie is the Ralph Bunche Associate Professorof History and Religion at the Los Angeles City College. He holds a Ph.D. and Master’s in history from the Claremont Graduate University, a Masters in African American studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, a Master’s in Public History and Historic Preservation from California State University at Dominguez Hills, a Master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Architecture from Prairie View A&M University. He also holds a certificate in Democracy in Africa from University of Oxford, St. Antony’s College.
A historian of American history, African American & African Diasporic intellectual history, and culture, Professor Selassie I’s research and writing spans intellectual, social and culture history, religion, third world protest movements, and popular culture (music and sports). His popular blog, “Niyabinghi Blues: Sorrow Songs of a Rastafari” featured thoughtful articles on race, culture, and history.
Professor Selassie I specializes in the intersection of Marcus Garvey (Garveyism), religion and race. His work particularly focuses on the ways in which the black community seeks avenues of cultural, religious and social expression. His first book, An Introduction and Analysis of The Holy Piby by Shepherd Robert Athlyi Rogers (1924), is the first of its kind to explore the religious and cultural context of one of the premier Rastafari biblical texts. He has written extensively on the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL), Negro Ritual and Negro Catechism and its inter-play with the genealogy of western thought. His work also looks at transcultural and transnational outcomes of race and racism, particularly white supremacy.
Since its
founding, the fraternity has provided leadership and service during the Great
Depression, World War II, Civil Rights Movements, and addressed social issues
such as apartheid and urban housing, and other economic, cultural, and
political issues affecting people of color. The fraternity’s mentoring,
academic achievement and voter education programs and its relationships with
the March of Dimes, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boy Scouts are priority-one
for the fraternity. Some of its major programs include the Million Dollar
Contribution to the National Urban League, the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the United Negro Scholarship Fund
and its lead role in the management and construction of the Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Memorial on the Washington Mall. Dr. King was one of the most revered
brothers of the fraternity. Dr. Everett B. Ward, the fraternity’s 35th General President. The fraternity is
headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
The fraternity’s membership is lodged in more than 1,500 college and 900 alumni chapters throughout the United States, Korea, Europe and the Caribbean. Some of its prominent members are Justice Thurgood Marshall, Congressmen Emmanuel Cleaver, Al Green and Charles Rangel; former PVAMU presidents E. B. Evans, Alvin I. Thomas and Charles Hines; Mayors Lee P. Brown, David Dinkins, Andrew Young, Frank Jackson, Raymond E. Carreathers, Jiles P. Daniels, Sr., Michael Wolfe, Brian E. Rowland and Sylvester Turner, Texas Representatives Al Edwards, Sylvester Turner, Boris Miles and Ronald Reynolds; musicians Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie; Activists Paul Robeson, W. E. B. DuBois; Olympian Jesse Owens, to name a few.
No comments:
Post a Comment