(Disclaimer:These are stories told to me or about me. I don't necessarily share these views!:))

I think of myself as a student of human behaviour. One thing that interests me about BGLOs is the stereotypes that get played dwon in public but which people ascribe to nonetheless as a folk reality. A few stories.

I went to a Kappa smoker in college. The Province Polemarch of my area at the time was from my home town and he went to school with my mom. And the 2dn Vice Province Polemarch was a high school classmate. They were there. They gave presentations. I will never forget that the province Polemarch, a very affable and professional man, lost his "Kappa Kool" when he someone asked him about Omega. he said with an ever so slight hint of animosity that "he would not want his son to be an Omega." I knew no Ques, had no Greek relatives, only knew a high school friend who was an Alpha and his brother who would pledge Alpha that year. The only thing I had heard about Omega was negative. I thought that response was a bit mean-spirited and small-minded, given that he was representing his fraternity in an official capacity. I recently met his Kappa son and we hit it off.

A brother in a grad chapter I was a member of in Southern Cali once told the bruhs that he had to have a talk with his son once, who was in college at the time. His son's roomate was a Sigma, and the circle of friends he hung with were Sigmas. So, when the son came home for a vacation break he sat him down and had a man to man talk with him. He told his son: "If you pledge Sigma, don't come home!" He was serious as a heart attack! (He didn't think too much of Sigma!:) His son is still not Greek;he's was scared to pledge Omega on his campus. He respects Omega greatly though.

A younger Delta friend, whose mother is die-head DST and her father, a Nupe, told me that her father said that if she married an Omega, he would not walk her down the aisle. (The last boyfriend she had was a Que.:)

Back in the mid-'80s I met a bruh at a district meeting whom his undergrad chapter bruhs told me about. He was made in the '70s and it was a different day when the "light skinned male" was in vogue. Anyway, he fit this phenotype, the putative Kappa phenotype: tall, handsome, light skinned, curly hair. And the black women on the venerable white Southern campus were smitten with him. The bruhs told me that one time when was walking on the campus a car load of sisters driving by saw him and were so trying to get his attention that they wrecked the car. The bruhs jokingly told these girls that he is a Que, not a Kappa! This bruh is a surgeon now.

I used to teach on a foreign language at seminary Alma Mater. I had husband and wife who were in one of my classes. They were 1.5 generation Korean Americans. When she found out that I was a Que she couldn't believe it. She said: "you're one of those bulldogs.":) The husband later told me of a conversation that they had had. He said that she told him that I "acted like an Alpha." We laughed about this!

I've got cookies and juice if anyone likes. :)

Wolfman, you're about to become our very own resident storyteller. :cool:

Dear Wolfman,

We need our story fix. Thank you kindly. :D

A personal story that I've told to Frats and some others, which means a lot to me.

To this day I cannot explain why I pledged, like many other very important things in my life. I got involved with some guys who wanted to do this and I went for it. I cannot explain my particular motivation. Now, I say serendipity, or better, Divine Providence. Since the most important thing that has ever happened to me, my Christian conversion, happended at age 17, everything else has had to fir with in that grid of worldview and being, including the Fraternity.

Among the things we were required to do while "on line" was have a party. We organized one at an off-campus party spot. It was designed as basically a keg party. It was very aweel attended by African American students on my 98% caucasian campus and many football players, who were the teammates of many of my LBs. More importantly for us, there were visiting Ques there, to check us out and "mess with us" a bit. Some of this happened at the party in full view of the party goers. One one occasion, one visiting Que stopped and talked to me "off the record," not as "Lamp. He told me things that I would need to know as Que! I've never forgotten these things; for now I believe that God used him to speak to me. He told me two things: 1) you will meet brothers who you'll not like and 2) the Fraternity is "religious."

The first truth is something that everyone joining a Greek-Letter org, church, club,etc. should come to terms with;for we are in a fallen world and we are dealing with fallen humanity(myself included!). Sometimes we can be shattered by the revelation that there are crooks, immoral, unfriendly, and selfish people whom we call brother or sister. Any time you'll dealing with human beings, you'll have some "mess." Maturity and a knowledge of our comman humanity and the grace and love of God, means that we see beyond this and seek to live out the lives we've sworn by sacred oath to uphold. It's the ideals that matter, and our efforts in God to live them out that matter, and on this journey you'll meet people who do reflect these God-inspired ideals.

The second truth is that the Fraternity is not just about people partying, stepping, carousing, cahsing women, etc. The roots of the Fraternity are deeply and inextricably Christian. This is something that is lost or obscured on many young brothers and,moreover, is something pushed to the side in our materialistic and narcissistic age we live in. As it says in the Omega Psi Phi entry in Baird's Manual, the essential bonds and foundations of the Fraternity were (and are!) religion, culture and tradition. This is something that I experienced when I read the Ritual fully in the summer after my initiation, and what I've experienced amongst the men of Omega. That "word" has been a blessing on my Omega sojourn. I see this as a part of my journey in Christ, something that God used to grow and shape me a s a man and as a human being.

As in the words of the second stanza of the Lampados Hymn, written by the late Rev. Reginald Daniels, which will forver be indelibly etched in my soul:"God give unto us great courage, give us faith and make us strong; that we who are within the band may not fail as we go 'long. Keep the soldiers of this army moving, guided by Thy hand. May we march across the desert and enter Dear Omega's Land." My the LORD's name be praised and be glorified!

*sits crisscrossed*

I'm not a D9 greek but I love these stories and the nuggets of wisdom in them. It's so obvious how much you love Omega Psi Phi, Wolfman!

Older Bruhs:

1) you know them by their regal yet friendly bearing

2) or they keep their viagra prescription updated for every district and conclave.

3) Omega commencement speakers always get the bruhs hyped before they address the audience.


Young Bruhs:

You wear the same ripped frat shirt and grass stained camo's for all 3 days of a weekend roadtrip.

You wear your dog collar to your lb's wedding

You don't know the words to the Sweetheart Song but you know five different hops to "Atomic Dog"

Your chapter sets out hops at graduation to the amusement/bewilderment of the caucasian parents

I am definitely guilty of some of those

Long time no see Stranger. :) Welcome back.

Glad to be back :)

Or should I say ROO!!!!!

I love these and I'm passing them on to my Que honey.
BTW, I love the stories Wolfman, but another thing to add to the list Bruhs ALWAYS have stories! My Bruh (that's what we'll call him) and I sat in a car for 2 hours while he told me Bruh story after Bruh story and I loved it especially since he has 25 years in the frat.

My boo shared some Omega stories with me a few weeks ago and I was sitting there CTHU @ every last one of them, lol. :D

Do most of them include fighting? LOL

Surprisingly, no, LOL. I'm sure he has witnessed a fight or two, but just didn't tell me about them.

How about everyone knows a Bruh with a Napoleon complex. The chihuahua Bruhs always got the pitbull mouths when they know bigger bruhs will bump for them when they start some stuff, lol

A funny story.Yesterday I attended a get together at a bruh's house to celebrate the installation of the new pool he had built in his backyard.Before the DJ left,he put on Atomic Dog and cranked it up. The bruh set out a hop on the walkway around the edge of his pool.At this time one of his white neighbors came out on the back porch of her house to see what was happening.Then she went and got a video camera and begin to shoot.A brother joked that he may not be at this location too long.For die hard Ques,there is no inappropriate place or time to hop.

Wolfman, where have you been? I missed you and your stories. :(

I can guarantee this will make it to YouTube.com, lol.

I love it when my "Bruh" tell stories! Always talking about how Z-SQUAD use to do it! And then he'll break out into a step, because he was stepmaster back in the day! He says he still got about 3 good minutes of a step left in him!:D

LOL @ 3 good minutes of step left in him. I'm sure he has an extra minute or 2 stored waaaaay deep down somewhere. :p :)

Another way you know that you're a 'Die Hard Omega' is this fact:
Whenever the call goes forth for help, the bruhs come through. I'd like to dedicate this story to the glory of God and the marvelous ways He works in us and among us.

Last year, the chapter committee I was chairing was putting together a luncheon to honor the caregivers of sick and shut-in brothers, nrother's widows,etc. I was talking on the phone with our then chaplain (he's a widower who's in his 70s) and fellow committee member about this and afterwards our conversation turned to family matters:how his children were doing,etc. He told me that one of his "adopted" sons, whom his late wife and himself took in as a border (free of charge) at the HBCU he worked at, and who is now a Que,has a 12-year-old son, an honor student, who had recently been diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). He was in such a state that he couldn't attend school and was getting worse. The father didn't know what to do! He has two toddlers at home, plus his sick mother-in-law lives with his family. And the brother just got a promotion in the banking field, he travels as a Contemporary Gospel singer at times and is a worship leader at church. His plate is full! He was about to lose it because he couldn't get the help he needed. The world-class medical center a couple of hours away wouldn't return his calls.

During the conversation with our chaplain, I talked with him about securing someone to give an inspirational talk at the luncheon. I immediately thought of a brilliant young bruh, a committed Christian and research psychiatrist whom I hadn't seen in awhile, since we were at an annual cookout at a Delta's house.(He'd since been married so he'd not been out and about of late.:)) I called him and he readily consented to be our speaker at the luncheon. As the chaplain and I talked about the bruh with the son with OCD,the thought popped into my mind:maybe the bruh psychitrist could help our brother's son. I told the chaplain about this and then, late that night, I called the bruh psychitrist back and told him about the situation. He immediately called the chaplain to get the other brother's phone number to call him,telling him with emotion,'Brother,what can I do to help?' But the chaplain told him to wait until the morning to call.

The bruh psychiatrist did call early the next morning and the conversation lifted a burden off the father's heart. And, as it so happens, the bruh psychiatrist, in addition to being in private practice,also did his residency and research at the world-class medical center where the father was trying to get his son in to receive treatment. Well, the bruh psychiatrist made ONE phone call and got the appointment for the child at the medical center with the best specialist. Epilogue:the son is back in school,doing wonderfully, and he made the honor roll during the last grading period. "God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to behold..." God used Christian brotherly affection and the fraternal bond of Omega to be a blessing to a brother and his child in need. Friendship is essential to the soul!

Awwww! Thank you, Wolfman! I am so glad that the brotherhood that lives deep in all of y'all's hearts was able to help one brother and a child in the process. I was sincerely touched by the story from beginning to end.

*writing in my kindergarten journal as I sit on the storytime rug*

Wolfman says good storys. We want more storys. Please tel more. Prety please. Thank you.

NAPTIME! ;)

What a wonderful, heart warming story, Wolfman! Thanks for sharing.:)

(Another more recent true story in the same vein as the previous post per bruhs answering the call when another bruhs in need.)

A few weeks ago, the former chaplain, who's had major heart problems, including a surgical procedure and a major diabetic episode which landed him in the hospital when his present student boarder found him unconscious, got a call from one of the early '80s brothers of the undergrad chapter he served as advisor to.

(An aside here:Back in the early '80s during Homecoming Week, the Nupes put up a sign over the entrance to the university proclaiming, 'Welcome to Kappa Kountry'; for the founder of this NC HBCU was a Nupe. But this was a provocative gesture and, in response, the undergrad bruhs summarily tore it down in protest. About 3:00am one morning during Homecoming Week my dear brother got a phone call from a university official telling him to come to the campus immediately because the Ques and Kappas were engaged in a Westside Story free-for-all fight on the yard. This is the kind of thing he dealt with during his tenure as advisor, even though the chapter was full of student leaders and scholars.)

Our former chapter chaplain's love for those young bruhs never abated and the relationship with them is still one of respect and true brotherly love.Thus one of the brothers, now a dentist in Metro ATL called him and told him to pray for him because he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and he would have to operated on.He was still looked upon as a father figure and true friend. Moved by the plight of this brother, this elder brother called another member of my former grad chapter, a recently retired English professor at the university,alumnus of the same undergrad chapter and former teacher of the bruh with a brain tumor.They quickly hatched a plan: they decided to do a road trip and go be with the brother when he would have his operation to support and comfort him. So these two brothers, one in his 60s and the other in his 70s, in poor health, jump in the car and head to the ATL. On the way they playfully argue and cuss at eat other, the way Ques do at times.:) They were there for the brother in his time of need, when he felt the fragility of his mortality and needed someone to be there for him, in life and possibly in death. This is what true, that is, "Die Hard" Ques do.

Yaaay Wolfie for more Omega stories!!!
:D :D

That was a WONDERFUL story! That is Greek Love at its finest! Thank you so much for sharing

Wolfman, I just LOVE hearing your tales of Brotherly Love. Thanks for putting the positive side of fraternity out there for everyone to see!

"I'd rather see a sermon than to hear one any day..."
(Die Hard Ques walk the walk and talk the talk about Uplift)

The next story I'm going to take it back to the source, Founder Edgar Amos Love, Bishop of the United Methodist Church. It is inspired by the an after- chapter-meeting conversion by an elder brother who has now gone to be with the LORD. He recounted to us his memories in Omega, specifically how when Bishop Love came to the Los Angeles area to receive an Omega award, he hosted him at his house. He told us how impressed he was as a human being, a gracious, kind man.

The story itself is taken from an interview that was done of Bp. Love in '73 by Bro. Earl Hyman. In it he talks about the genesis and development of the Fraternity;the other part dealt with his life and ministry. I will relate a story he told from the latter.

After he rose to become the Principal of the Academy of Morgan College (the high school associated with Morgan State in Baltimore), then Rev. Love decided he wanted to pastor. He was called to a Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington,PA, outside of Pittsburgh. He related that one afternoon while he was sitting on his porch working on notes for his Sunday sermon, someone came onto the porch. He thought it was his wife but it turned out to be one of the small boys in the neighborhood called "C." He heartily greeted "C" and asked him what he wanted. "C" exclaimed, 'I want to play some horseshoes.' Founder Love put down his sermon notes and he and "C" played a game of horseshoes. He said they had the best time. Later that year, Founder Love explains, when the church had its revival services, "C" accepted Christ and joined the church.At this point in the taped interview, Bp. Love became very emotional, telling the interviewer that's what it's all about--evangelism and being a Christian, that is.

Bro. Wolfman, I believe that Brother's name is Mark Hyman, who later became a professor at Widener Univ in suburban Phila. Bro Hyman later became a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ whom I had the pleasure of hearing as a guest speaker at my church. He followed in Bro Carter G. Woodsons steps and was a historian who mainly taught and preached about Blacks in antiquity and the Bible. Unfortunately, at that time, I had no idea that he was an Omega or that he had such interaction with a Founder or I would have never let him leave the church. This was the late 80's . Bro. Hyman has since gone to glory but I have a copy of his interview with the Bishop and I also recall his sermon.

Doggy, a Die Hard Omega.

Doggy-
Thanks for the correction! It is Bro. [Mark] Hyman. And thanks for the information about him also. It all flows together, as it should, to the glory of our Creator and His Son, Jesus.
-Wolfman

LOL, sounds like my professor who just got another... oh wait, he did the last one, a few weeks ago, himself....

Kudos to Wolfman
 

I just want to say that I am glued to my computer screen... Wolfman what a great example of an exemplary Man, no less an Omega Man, you are! You go boy! I'm loving yours stories almost to tears. I am just moved by the love of your brotherhood. Many folk that are in outside looking in want to trivialize (sp?) and shed a negative light on our beloved BGLOs. The media especially could see the good in what we do if they just looked a little harder. It's easier to be negative I guess.
Thank you for sharing your stories...
I think we're due another one :D

A few weeks ago, the local grad chapter I'm a member of recently started a youth mentoring program for at-risk African American/Latino middle school male students. We has our kick off celebration and initial session. During the celebration, the room was filled with mother (from single parent houseolds), grandparents and local elected officials. Our keynote speaker was a 20+ year Que from another chapter in the Metro NYC area. He is a father, minister,author,activist, and involved in the advocasy of our youth and so many more things. He held both the mothers and their sons enrapt by the "testimony" of his life and his word to them about manhood and raising black men. This is a testimony of a Que who became an Omega when a student-athlete and father of a baby. The following links tell a part of his story of what a real "Die Hard" Omega is about: Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance and Uplift.

http://www.globalblacknews.com/lambball.html
http://www.ThabitiEnterprises.com

A "Die Hard" Que like will party anytime.

In his autobiogrpahy, Bro. Rev. Benjamin L. Mays, Ph.D., the late president of Morehouse College, who had a tremendous formative influence on generations of black men, including MLK, Jr., related this story. In the early '20s when he was serving as a pastor of a baptist church in Atlanta, he went to a Que picnic on a Sunday afternoon after he got out of the pulpit. Someone from the church saw him dancing at the event with some woman. Well, they took this back to the board and there was a big stink about it, and he almost got fired. But a "Die Hard Que" has to do what he has to do: Be OWT!

I know that's right... there's still a stigma that goes along with "being" Greek... like you can't be both a Christian and a member of a BGLO!? But I beg to defer. ;)

I'm not a D9 greek either, but as a multicultural greek, we recognize and respect our roots... so thank-you, wolfman for reminding ALL greeks what sister/brother hood is about. Your stories are touching and beautiful :)