DST's 48th National Convention in Philly

[DSTCHAOS]

I had a blast.

[Live_Wire17]

I had a blast too. The only problem was that Philly was not ready for us. The city closed down at 10pm. If you are like me, I'm a late night snacker and the search for food was tiresome. The line for Crowns Chicken place was ridiculous. But when I did get a piece of chicken it was sooo good.

[Proverbs31]

Originally Posted by Live_Wire17

I had a blast too. The only problem was that Philly was not ready for us. The city closed down at 10pm. If you are like me, I'm a late night snacker and the search for food was tiresome. The line for Crowns Chicken place was ridiculous. But when I did get a piece of chicken it was sooo good.

We made our way over to South Street almost every night to get dinner, there were so many different places open to get a Philly Cheese Steak. They didn't close 'til 2 and 3am.

One of the best moments for me was experiencing the Opening and meeting Soror Vashti McKenzie afterwards. It was also really nice to finally meet my GC Sorors! I truly had an awesome time!

[NiaX]

I had a blast... but I am mad I didn't get to meet alot of the sorors I wanted to see...

I did go to Crown Chicken after the Club Delta on Saturday... I soooo wanted a Cheesesteak... I wish I had a car cause the taxis were crazy and high!

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Live_Wire17

I had a blast too. The only problem was that Philly was not ready for us. The city closed down at 10pm. If you are like me, I'm a late night snacker and the search for food was tiresome. The line for Crowns Chicken place was ridiculous. But when I did get a piece of chicken it was sooo good.

The Chili's and 7Eleven across from our hotel were the only venues "ready for us." But we had to go there when all the Sorors were elsewhere to avoid hour long lines.

We did stumble upon a really nice sushi spot that was having a private party with free food and libations. The waitress was cool enough to let us in so we pretended like we were supposed to be there. Good time was had by all.

[kiml122]

Originally Posted by NiaX

I had a blast... but I am mad I didn't get to meet alot of the sorors I wanted to see...

I did go to Crown Chicken after the Club Delta on Saturday... I soooo wanted a Cheesesteak... I wish I had a car cause the taxis were crazy and high!

Umm, you were suppose to call me, and you would have had your cheesesteak

I had a ball meeting all of my GC sorors. Club Delta was definitely better here in my Philly then in Vegas. Seriously I had a blast and I live here....he he he

[orighu]

Originally Posted by Live_Wire17

I had a blast too. The only problem was that Philly was not ready for us. The city closed down at 10pm. If you are like me, I'm a late night snacker and the search for food was tiresome. The line for Crowns Chicken place was ridiculous. But when I did get a piece of chicken it was sooo good.

yeah, i saw that line - so the food was good eah?

Chili's ran out of chicken wings Sat night.

[NiaX]

Originally Posted by kiml122

Umm, you were suppose to call me, and you would have had your cheesesteak

I had a ball meeting all of my GC sorors. Club Delta was definitely better here in my Philly then in Vegas. Seriously I had a blast and I live here....he he he

I know... bad me! *smacks my own hand*

[Ms Public Service]

A Sisterly Bond Family embraces service in community

By Regan Toomer
Tribune Staff Writer

Three generations of African-American women are keeping it all in the family by being members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Edith Jones, Pamela Jones Johnson and Ashley Johnson are not only related, but also sorority sisters.

Pamela and Ashley are considered legacies, because they are the daughter and granddaughter of a Delta – Edith.

Jones, 85, of West Philadelphia, joined the sorority in 1944. Her daughter Pamela went Delta at Hampton University and joined the Gamma Iota chapter in 1978. Jones’ granddaughter Ashley joined the sorority’s Gamma chapter at the University of Pennsylvania in 2005.

The ladies’ story started with Jones who joined the then-Sigma chapter of the Philadelphia Alumnae chapter in 1994.

She previously was a student at West Chester Teacher’s College, and found that there were Black fraternities and sororities there. So, she later joined the Philadelphia Alumnae chapter.

“I was always interested,” Jones said. “My friends joined the Temple and Penn chapters. I knew people who were Deltas.”

Jones said she did not pressure Pamela and Ashley to join the sorority. Instead she said it just became natural to them.

Pamela Johnson, of Mount Airy, said she was always familiar with the sorority through her mom while growing up.

“I grew up around a lot of members through Delta Sigma Theta because of my mom,” she said. “I grew up going to the public events where non-Deltas were allowed to attend.”

Pamela also said she would attend the Delta’s May Week event, which is one of the organization’s long-lasting programs. The objective of May Week is to raise consciousness of young people about the importance of higher education.

She said there were many factors that urged her to pledge Hampton’s Gamma Iota chapter.

“The fact that we have a five-point program is what I liked about it,” Pamela said, noting that she was among many legacies at Hampton.

“There are several legacies,” she said. “At Hampton, we had many.”

Pamela added some legacies were not guaranteed admission into the sorority.

“Many are called, but few are chosen,” she said. “Not everybody can get in. It is a process. One of the requirements is high academic achievement and community service.”

For Ashley, the sorority appealed to her personal beliefs.

“It just had a positive impact and matched up for my morals and values,” she said.

Ashley is the incoming president of the Gamma Chapter at Penn. She will be a senior this year and said that she finds at the undergraduate level, being a legacy is rare.

“We just took in a new line of girls and there was only one who was legacy,” she said.

Ashley added that she cherishes being a legacy.

“The best part is having a family that knows what you have gone through,” she said. “Mom and grandma have been rooting me on from the beginning.

Edith and Pamela said they could not be prouder of Ashley. All said that they would not have ill feelings if one chose to join another sorority.

“There is a lot of pressure with that with outsiders,” Pamela said. “When I stepped on Hampton’s campus, my mother said she wanted me to pledge Delta, but if not she would support me.”

All women said they have no regrets about joining the organization. They revel in the bond that they share.

“It gives us another relationship,” Jones said. “My granddaughter calls me Soror Mom-Mom. This just is another bond.”


http://www.phila-tribune.com/channel...2506/delta.asp

[Ms Public Service]

Deltas set to spend

By Ayana Jones
Tribune Staff Writer

Thousands of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. members will boost the city’s economy when they descend on Philadelphia for the organization’s 48th national convention, according to economic insiders.

The event, scheduled for Thursday through Aug. 2, has been billed as the largest multicultural convention to be held this year at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, with a projected economic impact of over $18.5 million based on 12,000 registered attendees.

In addition to pumping money into many of the city’s hotels and restaurants, the sorority members are also expected to support regional attractions. The sorority’s convention manual highlights a full roster of activities ranging from $35-per-person shopping trips to Franklin Mills Mall to $90-per-person dinner cruises aboard The Spirit of Philadelphia and various African-American tours throughout the community.

And Macy’s is opening the doors of its Center City location on Saturday so that members of the sisterhood will have exclusive access to the store for four hours.

Yolanda Bullock-Cooper, the Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau’s vice president for short-term and multicultural sales, said the Delta convention should be regarded as a major deal for the city.

“It’s more than just a sorority coming to town for a few days,” she said. “The makeup of the organization, coupled with the fact that many of the women are members of other business organizations, affords us the opportunity to showcase the city and the region for potential business. I want people to know that there is so much future opportunity on the table here.”

She’s hopeful that women will want to come back to the Philadelphia region with their families for vacations, family reunions and other business meetings.

National Convention Chair Rita Waters is excited the convention is being hosted in Philadelphia because its gives the sorority the chance to give back to the local community.

Waters noted the women are expected to dine at some of the city’s more popular African-American-owned eateries such as Bluezette’s, Zanzibar Blue and Savannah’s.

“I thought that it was important that we bring the convention here to impact the city economically,” said Waters, who serves on the board of the bureau’s Multicultural Affairs Congress. “The city, the convention center and the hotel association have been so warm and supportive of this.”

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. is a organization of over 200,000 predominantly African-American, college-educated women.

http://www.phila-tribune.com/channel...2506/delta.asp

[Ms Public Service]

National Women's Group Challenges Mayor: Get Walking!



by KYW's Karin Phillips

The nation's oldest African-American women's organization has officially opened its convention in Philadelphia (see related story) with a "City Hall challenge."

Dr. Louise Rice, national president of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., was presented with a replica of the Liberty Bell by Mayor John Street as the nation's oldest African-American women's organization opened its 48th national convention in the "City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection."

In return, Dr. Rice (at right in photo) presented a pedometer to Mayor Street:

"And I'm going to put mine on now and I want you to put yours on now. And this time next week, we want to see who will have the greatest number of footsteps. I challenge you -- we're going to be walking in Philadelphia!"

Some of that walking was to include shopping for Delta members at the brand-new Macy's department store in center city, in advance of its official grand opening (see related story).


http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/61627.php

[Ms Public Service]

Elmer Smith | Let's celebrate the impressive Delta women

I GOT MY first dose of Delta Sigma Theta 40 years ago, when they wouldn't let my wife talk with me.

Actually she wasn't my wife yet. She wasn't even a Delta yet.

She was pledging for membership at Temple University and going through what was then called social probation. I was home on a weekend pass from an Army Nike missile base where I was then stationed.

If she could have talked, she may have told me that this organization she was so eager to join was a sisterhood of young black co-eds. At a time when black students were still a tiny minority at Temple, becoming a Delta would open an array of networking opportunities and social outlets for her.

Big deal. I wasn't in college at the time, didn't intend to go and couldn't have cared less about her social outlets on campus.

I don't remember what I said to her in the brief, one-sided conversation we had before I was sent packing. But you wouldn't find it in a Hallmark card.

I've grown since then. So has this sisterhood to which my wife has remained faithful to this day. In Delta's 93 years, it has grown to 250,000 members in 900 chapters in 47 states and overseas.

As many as 20,000 of them are expected here for their biennial convention, which starts today at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

It has become a tradition for the women in my family. My daughter is a Delta. My granddaughter, still a year from college, is determined to be one if she has to start a chapter at whatever college she decides to attend. The new-improved me loves it.

But even the new and improved version of me would not be impressed by networking and social outlets. I'm not a member of any social or fraternal organizations and probably never will be.

The long history and massive membership rolls don't do that much for me, either, even though a century of growth and stability is impressive.

What works for me is the adult version of Delta. Most Deltas are adult women enrolled in service organizations they call alumni chapters. They still do their social thing and their networking thing.

But the women you will see around town for the next week are involved in everything from building houses and schools and computer centers here and in Africa to providing millions of dollars in scholarships and fellowships - and even college professorships.

Most chapters offer career counseling and mentoring and literacy programs for high school and college students. I have spoken at AIDS-awareness programs sponsored by our local Delta alumni chapter.

Economic-development programs, like their adopt-a-black-business initiative, reflect their clear understanding that black organizations can't afford to waste their energies in purely social pursuits.

The still-unopened Macy's Market Street store is being opened to the conventioneers for a day of discount shopping. They are expected to have an economic impact of as much as $18.5 million here before they leave town.

But they aren't shopping just downtown.

"There are people concerned that a black organization is spending all this money downtown," said Rita Waters, convention coordinator and past president of the Philadelphia Alumni chapter.

"We understand that concern. But whenever Delta is in any town, we look to patronize black businesses and provide opportunities for black vendors.

"We have bus tours planned to visit black historical sites and do some shopping in North Philly, West Philly, South Philly and Germantown."

So, you'll see them all over town, worshipping in local churches, spending money downtown and across town. They'll be doing their step shows and holding their seminars and doing what Deltas do. Feel free to greet one if you want. Social probation is over.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/...l/15142041.htm

[Ms Public Service]

Keeping Connected

Sorority's local members head to Philly this week

by Raymond Tyler




One summer, while working as a local bus greeter, I was introduced to “black Greeks.” I worked with a young lady named Angela who was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. I remember that she let me read her copy of this dynamic new black magazine (Essence) that dared to challenge Ebony and Jet. Angela's personality was always more precious than a diamond, but over the years I have found that her spirit is in tune with many of the members of her sorority, which was founded at Howard University in 1913.

Some of the women with whom I've had the deepest conversations with and who have taught me the most have been Deltas. Some of my favorite performers and artists have worn the sorority's red and white. Even when I research some of the women whom I would count as “freedom fighters,” I find they have been a part of Delta Sigma Theta.

This year the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta (www.deltasigmatheta.org) celebrate their 48th national convention from July 27 to Aug. 2 in Philadelphia. According to Elka Slider of the Philadelphia Multicultural Affairs Congress (www.philadelphiamac.org) the convention will be one of Philly's largest conventions of the year. During the week there will be numerous events for just the members of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; there will also be opportunities for anyone to enjoy activities such as step shows and other performances. Slider says Delta members will enjoy discounts and warm welcomes at most Philly restaurants, events and attractions. Judge Susan F. Maven, president of the Atlantic County Alumnae Chapter of the Deltas, took some time out of her schedule to discuss the local organization.

http://www.acweekly.com/view.php?id=4825&issue_id=138

[Ms Public Service]

Sorors I am really loving this convention. The opening ceremony was so beautiful. Tonight Soror Sheryl Lee Ralph performed in Sometimes I Cry.

[dzdst796]

I had a great time in Philly. I really enjoyed meeting some of the GC sorors. I hope that everyone had a safe journey home.

Did Soror Ladygreek win her election?