Aiya, Rashid! You're making me sit down to write this long reply!!!
Bear with me all, this is going to be a bit long.
Let me just say that Little32's point about BGLO's being the staple for creating a "counter culture" in opposition to WGLO's is very, very solid point.
Asian Greeks are old (first org was 1916 but it died out). However, we don't have the group history of the D9. Essentially, Because you have so many organizations that are so old, a D9 culture has been created and developed over time to become what it is today. Things weren't like they are now back in the day.
As for Asian Greeks not knowing about stepping yet doing it anyways, YES it happens. Does it piss me off? YES. But the question to ask is WHY. Why are people doing these things? I really think it comes down to existing in a culture that is in opposition to WGLOs. So many Asian Greeks tell their members during rush or preach during pledging that we are not just drinking clubs. Many orgs emphasize their cultural ties and how they stand apart.
Yet, creating something totally different is very difficult. I mean, by just creating a fraternity or sorority you are copying from the Phi Beta Kappa model that every Greek org has copied.
The reality is that Asian Greeks have hand signs, calls, wear line jackets, hell even do line-ups like Black Greeks. I've gone over this a lot in my mind to think about what it all means - is this good or bad?
In some ways, it makes me very happy to see Asians branching out and looking at other cultures. At the same time, it bothers me because it is done without understanding what you are modifying.
Now, how do we solve all of this?
First off, Asian Greek culture needs to be solidified. I am sure if you asked members of Asian Greeks about other large Asian Greek orgs, their founding, etc. most members would have no clue at all. So, we're not even aware of our own history as Asian Greeks. How can we hope to learn the history of others without knowing our own organizational histories?
Now, most likely why there has been so little education on this is because a) our orgs are relatively newer and the older orgs are very small mostly b) because none of this has been written down recorded and c) because there is no unifying body for Asian Greeks (like the D9 for Black Greeks).
The older we get, the *hopefully* better the situation will become.
As for our age, all we can do is keep truckin.
As for none of it being written down, it's being done. I am in the process of writing my senior thesis on Asian American Fraternities & Sororities and their impact on APIA identity, etc. I created a survey that I sent to every Asian American Greek org I could find and received over 1,100 responses. I then did follow up questionaires with those who left their emails and received 70 good respones. Furthermore, I've been in contact with Walter Kimbrough (he wrote Black Greek 101) and Lawrence Ross (The Divine Nine) and I've been updating them on my work as well as supplying them with some more information about Asian American Greeks. Hopefully if they write more books they will have more to discuss on Asian American Greeks.
As for unity...we're trying right now. Back in 2004, the APIA Greek Alliance (AGA) was created to basically get Asian American Greeks to Get Out the Vote for the 2004 elections. Essentially, it showed how our orgs could work together for the APIA community. After that, it was clear that it needed to continue and be more refined. Since then, the National APIA Panhellenic Association (NAPA) has been created to provide a unifying voice for Asian American Greeks and help provide some stability to a Greek community of over 60 organizations.
Right now NAPA consists of:
alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority - founded 1990 at UC Berekely - approx. 43 chapters
Alpha Phi Gamma Sorority - founded 1994 at Cal Poly Pomona - 9 chapters
Delta Kappa Delta Sorority - founded 1999 at Texas A&M - 7 chapters
Delta Phi Lambda Sorority - founded 1998 at University of Georgia - 10 chapters
Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority - founded 1995 at Binghamton University - approx. 25-26 chapters
Pi Alpha Phi Fraternity - founded roughly 1926 at UC Berkeley - approx. 13 chapters
Pi Delta Psi Fraternity - founded 1994 at Binghamton University - 21 chapters
Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity- founded 1996 at University of Pennsylvania - approx. 37 chapters
Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority - foudned 1994 at University at Albany - 21 chapters
Other organizations (such as LPhiE, DPhiO, etc) were invited to join but declined/rejected. So, we have 9 organizations (not divine by any means unfortunately...but give us time!!!
)
The reality is even the larger organizations are facing many issues with infrastructure and organization. Things such as paid National staff (a staple of D9 and NPC/NIC orgs) are a far off dream right now. Even developing stable Alumni structures are a problem as well.
I know my org is trying to establish Alumni Chapters based on geographical locations, but it is very very difficult to get Alumni involved. Something the D9have done VERY well is have good Alumni support/involvement, which is something that is key to sustainability of an organization.
If you would like to get involved, I am sure your Nationals would love someone with your enthusiasm and desire to make things right. However, before we teach about the history of stepping, we need to teach our own history first and develop our own Asian American Greek Culture.
Believe me, I want to teach about D9 orgs too, but it is going to take time. I dream of the day when I am wearing letters at the age of 80 and I walk down the street and people go "omg!! he's PDPsi!!" just like people do about people who walk down the street wearing Alpha Phi Alpha letters. But the only way that is going to happen is with hard work and dedication.
Hope this helps! Now time to go work on this damn thesis!!! @#!$%%$@%!@#!!!
Pz
Nate