» GC Stats |
Members: 329,746
Threads: 115,668
Posts: 2,205,138
|
Welcome to our newest member, AlfredEmpom |
|
 |

07-10-2025, 09:09 PM
|
GreekChat Member
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 4,187
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zach
I’m not checking your post to call you out, because you’re not wrong to trip over that. But let’s really frame this with a little context, because the idea that predominantly white fraternities and sororities are the “standard” for Greek life is honestly kind of shaky when you look at the bigger historical lens.
Let’s look at the Greek letters themselves. The letters didn’t originate in isolation. The Greek alphabet evolved from the Phoenician script, which was heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, meaning Africa and the Mediterranean were the real blueprint for what would become the Greek letters you see today. So even the symbols that white GLOs hold up as “traditional” trace back to Black and brown civilizations.
Go back to us, The Divine Nine. We didn’t just copy what was already there. We turned it into something new, a cultural institution that combined community service, scholarship, social justice, and cultural preservation. It wasn’t imitation, it was transformation.
So yeah, historically white fraternities were first in this country on paper, but that’s not the same thing as defining what Greek life became for Black people. We took an idea that started as a closed door and made it open-hearted for our communities. We planted it in culture, and that’s why it lives.
Are they really the “standard”? Or were they just the starting point? Because there’s a difference. And the difference is what keeps us enduring long after the party’s over. If you look at ours in comparison to theirs, I don’t know why you care or why her comment bothered you. Why are you offended? If you knew your history and knew that when you give Black people an inch, we go a 100 miles with it, I don’t think what was said would eat at you like it’s doing. When they make false comments like that, you really shouldn’t care and it shouldn’t bother you.
|
I know my history, I just don’t like it when somebody like her tries to dilute it with some bullshit that doesn’t make any sense. Glad she didn’t bring her dumbass back over here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zach
On a separate post, since some folks over here are fascinated with genealogy, here’s a free history snack. If you trace your line back far enough, you’re going to hit Africa whether you like it or not. That’s not an opinion, that’s just genetics. Modern humans originated in Africa, migrated out, and spread around the globe. So that proud Viking DNA you’re bragging about? Congratulations, your distant cousin is probably rocking braids on the Serengeti 60,000 years ago.
So when people act like their way is the “norm” and ours is the “other”, it’s kind of funny. Culturally, biologically, and historically, we’re all more connected than half y’all want to admit. You don’t have to like it but it’s the truth. Technically, everybody came from us. We are the standard, the traditional, and the original. So as far as the Greek system is concerned, first on paper means nothing when the real first people are your ancestors too. The same “originals” you excluded from your organizations are the reason you exist, biologically AND culturally. Just spitting facts.
We are The Divine Nine. You came from us.
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
|
Facts! I never looked at it from this perspective. Well said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek
Ahem… So, first off, I’m first generation ethnic Greek here in the States. My mother’s side is directly from Greece, so my grandparents came over with her, settled in the Midwest, and built everything from scratch. She was old enough to bring all of our real tradition with her, so when people talk about Greek life, I always laugh a little because for me it’s not just letters, it’s literally my bloodline, our language, our faith, our food, and our family values that survived for thousands of years.
You’re right, Zach. Historically, the Greek alphabet didn’t start in like some vacuum. Like you said, it did evolve from Phoenician scripts, which were heavily influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs. So technically, the letters sororities and fraternities wear today trace back through Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East before they ever showed up on a sorority or fraternity tee. That’s a fact, not just my family pride.
But for the record, I’ll mention what you didn’t, Zach. The Phoenicians weren’t African, they were Levantine, but their writing system was shaped by Egyptian scribes on African soil. That’s how culture works — trade, travel, mixing ideas for centuries. So if you trace your “proud” Greek letters all the way back, yes, you’re gonna hit the shores of the Nile. If you wanna call it Afro-Mediterranean, that’s fine. But it still goes through us — my real, ethnic Greek roots.
So like, this alphabet and all this cultural knowledge physically ran through MY family line. Ancient Greece didn’t just borrow Phoenician symbols, we built an entire language and identity from it.
So, my Greek family line literally carried that alphabet forward. Just sayin..
|
LMAO! CG agreed with dude, then lit him up with added history of her own Zach either left out on purpose or forgot about, then snatched her history back from dude, reclaiming it as hers, all in one post LOL!
What’s Lavantine mean?
|

07-11-2025, 05:40 PM
|
GreekChat Member
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 16,120
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phrozen Sands
LMAO! CG agreed with dude, then lit him up with added history of her own Zach either left out on purpose or forgot about, then snatched her history back from dude, reclaiming it as hers, all in one post LOL!
What’s Lavantine mean?
|
Omg! I was actually agreeing with him! I swear, you are such an instigator, lol. I was just adding that it’s more accurate to say Afro-Mediterranean influence than to pretend it was like an African to Greek pipeline with no Levantine link.
So, Levantine just means they were from the Levant, which is the eastern Mediterranean coast, so like, modern Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. The Phoenicians weren’t African, which is what I was telling Zach, but their writing came out of trade with Egypt. So in basic geography: Levant. Influence: African. If that makes sense.
__________________
Phi Sigma Biological Sciences Honor Society “Daisies that bring you joy are better than roses that bring you sorrow. If I had my life to live over, I'd pick more Daisies!”
|

07-11-2025, 08:32 PM
|
GreekChat Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2023
Location: Houston
Posts: 386
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek
Ahem… So, first off, I’m first generation ethnic Greek here in the States. My mother’s side is directly from Greece, so my grandparents came over with her, settled in the Midwest, and built everything from scratch. She was old enough to bring all of our real tradition with her, so when people talk about Greek life, I always laugh a little because for me it’s not just letters, it’s literally my bloodline, our language, our faith, our food, and our family values that survived for thousands of years.
You’re right, Zach. Historically, the Greek alphabet didn’t start in like some vacuum. Like you said, it did evolve from Phoenician scripts, which were heavily influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs. So technically, the letters sororities and fraternities wear today trace back through Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East before they ever showed up on a sorority or fraternity tee. That’s a fact, not just my family pride.
But for the record, I’ll mention what you didn’t, Zach. The Phoenicians weren’t African, they were Levantine, but their writing system was shaped by Egyptian scribes on African soil. That’s how culture works — trade, travel, mixing ideas for centuries. So if you trace your “proud” Greek letters all the way back, yes, you’re gonna hit the shores of the Nile. If you wanna call it Afro-Mediterranean, that’s fine. But it still goes through us — my real, ethnic Greek roots.
So like, this alphabet and all this cultural knowledge physically ran through MY family line. Ancient Greece didn’t just borrow Phoenician symbols, we built an entire language and identity from it.
So, my Greek family line literally carried that alphabet forward. Just sayin..
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek
Omg! I was actually agreeing with him! I swear, you are such an instigator, lol. I was just adding that it’s more accurate to say Afro-Mediterranean influence than to pretend it was like an African to Greek pipeline with no Levantine link.
So, Levantine just means they were from the Levant, which is the eastern Mediterranean coast, so like, modern Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. The Phoenicians weren’t African, which is what I was telling Zach, but their writing came out of trade with Egypt. So in basic geography: Levant. Influence: African. If that makes sense.
|
Yeah, the Levantine piece is the nuance that gets lost when people oversimplify how the Greek alphabet evolved. You’re right tho.
|
 |
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|