Originally Posted by WenD08 (Post 1670903)

i answered based on your tone. if you ask 1000 younger members why they wanted to join, you'd get 1000 answers. the age of the members, including my original chapter and my current one, as well as the members as a whole for me, wasn't an issue.
at any rate, is this rhetorical? or are you asking as an aspirant or out of curiousity? my questions are rhetorical. why asking why about personal decisions makes me wonder why does one wonder...

Originally Posted by smc112 (Post 1670961)

I could care less.

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS (Post 1670964)

You mean you couldn't care less.

You already acknowledged that what you said would vary by area or chapter, so that's that.

Originally Posted by Little32 (Post 1670971)

I think that "she" said what "she" meant, and "she" meant what "she" said. She could care less, which is why she unearthed this thread.

To say that a 20 or 30 something has nothing to gain from being involved in an organization or chapter of women 50+....well.....

Originally Posted by smc112 (Post 1670541)

The Links are a bunch of older women, and I don't understand why anyone in their 30's would want to join.

Originally Posted by Little32 (Post 1670974)

It's implied. Choose your words carefully.

Originally Posted by SummerChild (Post 1671056)

Well, since I'm bored to death and procrastinating in light of what I'm *really* supposed to be doing, I'll just chime in here. LOL. Ok, when I was about 26, I was asked by a Link to submit to start the process for submitting oneself to try to become a Link for her chapter. I, honestly, initially had the same gut reaction,- why would I want to hang around with a bunch of 50 year olds ... and pay all that money to do so? I'm not going to lie. But I, of course, did not say this to her b/c I highly admire this woman and she was a bit of a mentor to me (not to mention that she was the mother of the guy that I was dating at that time LOL). Now, but that was just me. To each her own. And there's nothing wrong with whatever decision to which another woman may come.

So SMC, I guess that I would say that I understand your sentiment. However, the answer is ... to each her own. Each woman is different and that's the answer to the rhetorical question that you raised (although I know that they, by definition, are not asked to receive answers) :)

SC

Originally Posted by smc112 (Post 1670897)

Like I said before, it depends on where you are located. The Link chapters that I know of are filled with a bunch of women from the late 50's -80's. Why would any young person in their twenties and thirties want to be involved with that age group? It is too big of an age gap.

Originally Posted by Blacksocialite (Post 1671738)

I'm a Link in my 30s. My chapter membership ranges from the 30s to late 70s.

I firmly believe that part of the maturation process is understanding that knowledge, fellowship, sisterhood, and networking can take place across all age groups.

Originally Posted by Poplife (Post 40390)

I own a copy of the book and I didn't realize that that I grew up around the black elite. Half the kids in my town are J&J kids, my family friends tell my mother she should apply to be a Link, and my dad goes to the Vineyard with his best friends (but he has never taken me or my sister). I didn't know that so many people around me were members of the old guard...to me it was just a known way of life.

I have a good friend that was in Jack and Jill growing up and she is third generation member of "the right sorority." http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif Her mother is the ONLY black judge in their county and her dad is an anchor man for a local news station. Despite what the book says she is down to Earth, friendly, and realistic. She actually inspires me because she is culturally, socially, and politically aware as well as dedicated to her family, friends, studies, and sorority. She has friends of all races and backgrounds.

Not all black elite's emulate white society. My town chapter of J&J has quite a few Afrocentric community events each year. We also had a program called Project A.F.R.I.C.A every Saturday and you just weren't with it if you did go. *lol* There were a lot of Link moms that were teachers for that program. There were a lot of upper-class black children there, but there were also middle/lower class children that came as well. It was a city thing...

I love my town and I am very proud of it. It very rare to see a large BLACK community where 80% of the people are professionals, where most of the kids go to college, and where most of the people VOTE and GET ACTIVE. I love driving down the street and seeing nice houses that have lovely lawns, nice cars in the driveway, and smiling at the little BLACK children playing outside in the yard.

Still, my family is not what a lot of people would called elitist. My mom says she's not a Links type of person and my dad rejected sponsorship for me and my sister to join J&J. His reasoning was that we lived in an upwardly mobile back community and if we wanted to socialize with upwardly mobile kids all we had to do was go to school.


When I tell people where I'm from some of them say "Oh you think you cute" or "Ya'll some bougie negros." Sometimes people automatically assume I can't relate to them. If I hear one more brotha call me "rich girl" it's ON!! *lol* Anyone that knows me knows that I'm the type of person to befriend anyone that appeals to me. That goes beyond finances and breeding.

But in the real, they can call me whatever they want. I'm glad I came from where I did. Without the knowledge that I learned from my environment I don't know if I would be the person I am today.

Hope this helps your interest.

[This message has been edited by Poplife (edited December 04, 2000).]