Sorors,
This email was sent to me in another forum, and I thought I would share....(it is quite lengthy)...
i was searching the net came across this i hope that it inspires a
sisterfriend and uplifts a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc
REMARKS BY : DR. ROBERT B. INGRAM
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
by
Robert B. Ingram, Ph.D., Board Member
Miami Dade County Public Schools
District 1
August 26, 2000
WHO CAN FIND A VIRTUOUS WOMAN?
Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.
(Proverbs 31:10). That was the proverb I reflected upon in preparation for
todays salute to the SOPHISTICATED WOMEN OF ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY,
women, whose price is far above rubies. Your lives are personified in the
words, "Sugar and spice and everything nice".
Because, to me, you evidence the strength of women like Sojourner Truth
(1795 1883), because you, too, are pilgrims of God whose mission is to
liberate our people. To me, you evidence the quintessence of women like
Queen Nzinga (1582-1663), for you too accept your role as astute
diplomatic and political servants whose generosity of the spirit motivates
and inspires others to do the best than can with The tools they have.
To me, you demonstrate the tenacity of women like Harriet Tubman because
of your lion-hearted spirit drives you to practice what you profess. You
do not pretend to be what you do not intend to be. You are my "sheroes".
You are the scintillating, splendid, shining brilliance of people like:
1 Marjorie Hill
2 Lucy D. Slowe
3 Lillie Burke
4 Ethel Hedgeman Lyle
5Anna E. Brown
6 Marie Woolfolk Taylor
7 Beulah E. Burke
8 Margaret Flagg Holmes
9 Lavinia Norman
You are the enticing elegance and exquisite charm of some of the most
revered women in our history. You evidence the brilliance and judgement of
a:
1 Norma Boyd
2 Ethel Jones Mowbray
3 Alice P. Murray
4 Sarah M. Nutter
5 Joanna B. Shields
6 Carrie E. Snowden and a
7 Harriett J. Terry
You have the resolution and patience of a:
1 Norma Boyd
2 Julia E. Brooks
3 Ethel Jones Mowbray
4 Nellie M. Quander
5 Nellie Pratt Russell and a
6 Minnie B. Smith
Your courage, your strength and your knowledge. Your mastery, your wisdom
and your energy are nothing less than sugar and spice an everything nice.
ECCLESIASTICAL LESSONS
When I think of the AKA'S I draw spiritual lessons from your service. Let
me pass along a story from the Bible that illustrates what I mean. The
story of Esther details, in my mind, the sacrifices of people like
yourselves. You know the story.
Esther, was an orphan that became a queen. Esther was a Jewish girl whose
parents were both dead. Esther lived and was raised by her cousin
Mordecai.
Through Mordecai, Esther learned to love, to trust and to obey a mighty
God.
DOWN BUT NOT OUT
Esther's people, like many of the people AKA represents have been:
* Marked down
* Knocked down
* Backed down
* Put down
* Cracked down, and
* Held down
Without Esther's help not only would her people be down, they would be
out. Esther was faced with a choice, to save her own life or save the
lives of her people. She knew the law. To speak to the King meant instant
peril to her own personal safety. And not to speak to the King meant
instant death to her people. In today's vernacular Esther was in a double
bind; caught between a rock and a hard place.
In the 4th chapter and the 16th verse of the book named after her, we find
her coming to grips with her destiny. Devotion to her people was far
greater than the duty to herself. So it is with AKA'S who are devoted to
our people. ALL of our people. You serve because of your love, not because
of any law. To continue the legacy of your FOUNDERS THREE THINGS MUST
OCCUR:
I. First you must continue being: ABOLITIONISTS
Being an ABOLITIONISTS is the precondition for self-determination. Our
destiny is largely in our own hands. Our Bible tells us to seek and we
shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened to us. If we are to make
good in this race called life, we must do so through organized, unified
strategies.
Whatever our strategies they must emancipate ourselves and our people from
the media's powerful practice of perpetuating negative, violent images
that encourage irresponsible thoughts, behavior and activities. It appears
to me that the majority media delights in portraying African Americans as
pimps, pushers and prostitutes, using inflammatory words to portray
negative propaganda with such intensity that subconsciously African
American people are embracing and acting out these destructive
stereotypes.
What that says to me is this, when we fail to be ABOLITIONISTS our people,
we continue to allow their fertile minds to be inculcated with violent
thoughts, guided by violent sights, trained by violent sounds, instructed
by violent words, directed by violent things, schooled in violent places,
and therefore, too many of our people continue to be violent outlaws, who
live violent, dehumanizing lives.
Secondly, you must continue imparting KNOWLEDGE
Occasionally, your heartfelt fervor may decline and your devotion may
subside, but despite an occasional misstep you must continue keeping the
lamp of KNOWLEDGE burning.
o Forgetful AKA'S, need to open their minds up.
o Lazy AKA'S, need to pep up.
o Sleepy AKA'S, need to wake up.
o Angry AKA'S, need to make up.
o Stingy AKA'S, need to give it up, and
o Gossiping AKA'S, need to shut up.
No matter which way the winds of controversy blow, remember success will
not come from holding a good hand, but from playing a poor hand well.
There is a higher power that will help you to make a way out of no way.
When you impart KNOWLEDGE, you may not be what you wish to be, you may not
be what you're going to be, but by the Grace of God, you will not be what
you used to be!
III. Finally, you must continue being an: ACTUALIZER
To be a ACTUALIZER is to provide a synthesis between being an
ABOLITIONISTS and Imparting KNOWLEDGE. Without that balance, one could
embark on something called "divine insanity".
Divine Insanity" is the confusion in doing something, and not knowing if
it right or wrong. Confusion like the young sister I saw outside of the
church pulling and empty dog chain. I asked her "What was the matter?" and
she answered I don't know, I am so confused I don't know if I found this
chain or lost my dog!"
Implicit in imparting KNOWLEDGE is that you are not confused. You are
doing what you are doing according to a standard not according to a birth
right. Who you are, and not who your father and mother is or was, is
what's important. Knowing yourself, liking yourself and being yourself is
the cornerstone of being imparting KNOWLEDGE.
Just like the words to the song says, "Your mother may have, your father
may have, but God bless the child that has got his own". AKA'S I've
stopped by to invite you to continue your ABOLITIONIST activities,
continue imparting KNOWLEDGE, and continue ACTUALIZING. Continue pledging
your good name, your fortune and your life for the uplifting of our
people.
One of the life qualities I admire most about the AKA's I know, is how
they vigorously resists tyranny and champion truth.
The AKA's I know confront seemingly unsurmountable odds, such as
illiteracy, drug use and drug abuse, single parent households, child
abuse, inadequate health care, gang-related violence, low self-esteem,
aids, unemployment and under employment.
The AKA's I know are constructive and positive individuals who are ready,
willing, and able to lift their people from:
o Criticism to Compliment.
o Self-pity to Self-reliance.
o Resentment to Contentment.
o Hate to Love.
o Fear to Faith.
We can never relive today, therefore, it behooves us to give a good
account of ourselves, every moment of this day. We need not be
overwhelmed. They realize that a journey of a thousand miles begins with
one step. I've stopped by to invite you to keep making that one step at a
time:
o Children are precious, teach one.
o Parents are needed, reach one.
o Educators are people of distinction, salute one.
o Goals can be achieved, have one.
o Philosophies inspire, create one.
o Cultural partnerships promote diversity, join one.
o Obstacles are surmountable, move one.
o Prejudices prevent growth, conquer one.
o Coalitions are necessary, build one.
o Positive role models, are crucial, be one.
I'm only one, But I am one
I can't do everything, But I can do something,
And by the Grace of God, What I can do, I will do
By now you may have gleaned that Abolitionist, Knowledge and Actualizing
conforms to your call letters "AKA".
AKA, to me represents is a sorority of high regard, a sorority of
self-sacrifice, a sorority that evidences the true measuer of a person's
giving.
LILY
Let me put may remarks in a frame using a story I once heard about a
"Lily".
One day, the story goes, a beautiful "Lily" was observed growing in the
middle of a garbage dump.
The question was asked the Lily, "How can yiou grow with such beauty in
the middle of such salacious and satology mees?"
The Lily replied, "Because my roots, strive, thrive and are alive below
the mess,
My head rises above the mess,
My slender stem grows and glows through the mess,
So even though I am in the mess, I am not a part of the mess!"
I've stopped by to thank you for not being a part of the
APATHY, ABHORRENCE, or ABOMINATION. You are "Sugar and Spice and every
thing nice.
You are women who are admired, acclaimed and adored by individuals,
families and nations--not only here in AMERICA but around the world as
well.
Ancient records show that your ancestors served as queens, goddesses,
scholars, diplomats, scientists, icons, prophetess and freedom fighting
women-warriors exalted sometimes above their fathers, their husbands and
their brothers.
You share those attributes, and that is why I can say without equivocation
you are "Sugar and Spice and everything nice".
You have been blessed with the blood of women who have administered great
and mighty nations, led determined and capable armies into battle and
founded splendid and enduring royal dynasties.
Indeed, no other human of any racial or ethnic type has been so widely
venerated as has the African woman.
Thank you for inviting me to share these small tributes of historical
recognition, for I am honored to salute the prominence, grandeur and
majesty of members of your AKA Sorority. You are "Sugar and Spice and
everything nice".
My prayer is that you hold on as your ancestors and founders held on and
say with determination:
"I don't feel no ways tired,/
I've come to far from where I started from/
Nobody told me that the road would be easy/
But I've come too far for God to leave me!"
So go forward AKA'S and remember ESTHER, she too was "Sugar and Spice and
everything nice".
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