Sorority brings Delta affection to City of Brotherly Love
Lloylita Prout
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
It's not the Red Cross. So what organization is being represented by the women in those crimson red and white t-shirts?
It is Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. And those women - over 12,000 of them - are in the city through next Wednesday for their 48th National Convention. The last time Deltas were here for their convention was 1921.
"One Mission, One Sisterhood: Empowering Communities Through Committed Service" is this year's theme as the members of the nation's largest African American women's organization attend workshops, meetings, and elect officers. The group this year is stressing a healthy lifestyle, which is synonymous with one of the initiatives of this city and its mayor.
At this morning's convention kick-off, Delta's national president Louise A. Rice personally challenged Mayor Street - in a red tie for the occasion - by presenting him with a pedometer "to see who has the greater number of footsteps by the end of next week."
But she soon found out that she chose the wrong competitor. Mayor Street walks to and from work and gets in walking time on the weekend, too.
Besides a health initiative, Rice said the organization felt a "particular kinship" with the city as this is the hometown of the sorority's first national president, Sadi T.M. Alexander.
Alexander, who was the first black woman to receive a Ph.D in the U.S., served from 1919 to 1923. She was also the first black woman to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and to be admitted to the Pennsylvania bar.
And Delta women - Shirley Chisholm, Ruby Dee, Lena Horne, and Sheryl Lee Ralph - continue make significant accomplishments.
Looking beyond the revenue the convention will bring to the city, Mayor Street cited the city violence and how the sorority's presence could influence youngsters "to stay in school" and "work hard".
"When they see you, they see possibilities," he said.
Since its founding in 1913 by 22 Howard University students, the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority has expanded to more than 900 chapters in the U.S, England, Germany, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. And representatives from those chapters will not only work and learn during their stay but have fun, too. Also on the schedule is a Greek step show Saturday, a gospel concert with Kurt Carr, and Kim Burrell Sunday, and a gala on Monday with performers Harolyn Blackwell, Lala Hathaway, Angie Stone and the Clark Sisters. The public is welcome to attend these events.
More information about the sorority and its national convention can be found at
http://www.deltasigmatheta.org or
http://www.deltasigmatheta.org/convention06/index.html.
There is another story about the convention but I'm going to post that on another thread.