Brotherhood ?

[Blackwatch]

After reading a discussion about sexism in greekdom on DST ave. I've come away with a topic I hope will spark discussion from my brothers in Alpha as well as other members in D9 fraternities.

WHAT IS BROTHERHOOD?

After reading the debate between Doggeystyle 82 and Bro. D9 himself (Lawrence Ross) I think they both brought up very interesting points about the purpose, nature, and problems with the fraternal idea in 2003. Personally, I think the issue comes down to what makes a good brother, and can a good brother be "made" in a pledge process, or even molded after intake? Of course, I have my own personal views, but I am eager to hear some other insights.
Blackwatch!!!!!!!

[Professor]

Frat,

I'm not sure if I understand your question. Are you asking what makes a good brother or is the question can a good brother be made via in-take or pledging?

On a side note - WE ARE NOT GOING TO DEBATE PLEDGING VS. IN-TAKE - - -

[Blackwatch]

I do not want to debate intake vs. pledging, but I want to hear opinions about what makes a good brother- just supporting brothers when they are in need? being "active" financially? being community service minded? setting it out for bruhs when they come through? being able to share "war stories"? Having good character? Things of this nature.

Blackwatch!!!!!!

[Professor]

A good brother to me is one that contacts another brother if he is a no show at meetings or looses touch with the chapter. I feel most proud of my membership when brothers contact me to say hello and how are things going. Brotherly love extends beyond community service. I always say all Alphas are not brothers. Brotherhood is demonstrated when one shows that another has appreciation for who I am as a person. I want to feel respected and appreciated.

[Professor]

A good brother to me is one that contacts another brother if he is a no show at meetings or looses touch with the chapter. I feel most proud of my membership when brothers contact me to say hello and how are things going. Brotherly love extends beyond community service. I always say all Alphas are not brothers. Brotherhood is demonstrated when one shows that another has appreciation for who I am as a person. I want to feel respected and appreciated.

[Blackwatch]

When I was an undergrad, I was an Resident Assistant. Some of the residents on my floor pledged Omega Psi Phi one semester. After they crossed, one of the guys came to me to talk about why he pledged Omega Psi Phi. Keep in mind I didn't ask him why, I guess he had a case of "Neo-itis". One of the things he stated was that Omega represented a brotherhood like no other. The "Process" taught him that he must defend the name, colors, and men of Omega good or bad . I am not saying this is national mandate, but this is just what this particular member of Omega told me, unsolicited. He cited an example of a situation where a member of Omega was drunk and was hitting on a young lady who was obviously not interested in him, and neither was her boyfriend ammused by this drunk man approaching his girlfriend. At any rate things escaladed to where the boyfriend and the Omega got a little physical with one another. The member of Omega told me that In Omega, he had to fight with that drunk brother, even though the brother may have been wrong, and it was a one-on-one fight because Omega never lets a brother loose. Now, I recognize that this was an undergrad neo who was probably bragging more than anything that he had a group of brothers that always had his back, and granted, he did recognize that his fraternity brother was wrong being drunk and behaving like he did, but since he was an Omega, no body was gonna beat him down, regardles of his actions.

Now, I bring this up to say that I do not see where this has anything to do with brotherhood. This seems to be a ganglike mentality when a "Process" has you being controlled by a notion of group solidarity to do things that you think maybe wrong. Brotherhood, or brotherly love, is not about constraining men to do the wrong thing in the name of "brotherhood", but to compell brothers to be conscious of doing the right thing in the "true spirit of fraternity". True brotherhood is not vested in a "process", that bond is not about a "common experience" but about a commonality of goals, character, and expectations. To think that brothers in your fraternity are just good members if they haven't pledged, (as Doggeystyle82 mentioned in the debate with Bro. Divine 9)asserts a group solidarity based on an intense experience, similar to soldiers in a war, or gangbangers who were jumped in together. The critical issue here is what moral ground do these experiences have that inspire you to strive for the "true spirit of fraternity"-which is brotherly love, not male machismo?

The brotherhood that the fraternities can offer is not about making men good, nor bestowing manhood or authenticity on any man. It is about taking good men "of noble character" and inspiring them to become more fraternal and community minded good men. Make no bones about it, I know that Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity is not the Salvation Army or Big Brothers/Big Sisters, nor is it a church for that matter. What it is though is a fraternity, a group of men charged to have upstanding character, with commonalities of goals and expectations of any man with Alpha Phi Alpha in his heart to be "First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend ALL". A man with these qualities would not expect a fellow brother of his fraternity to defend his drunken disrespect of a woman, nor would he even want to be in a situation where he would require the aid of his fraternity brothers because of poor decisions that he made. Where I was made, we called this "leaning on the shield" and it is frowned upon. You should always strive to be an asset to Alpha, not a burden. That is brotherhood, to me.

Blackwatch!!!!!!

[DoggyStyle82]

BlackWatch

You could have made your point much better without using that "Omega" anecdote as your poit of reference. If Alpha is so great and your theory on Brotherhood the pinnacle of Fraternity, there is no need for such a ludicrous juxtaposition. Extol the virtues of your organization on its own merit please.

The Brotherhood of Omega is not aboout fighting nor disrespecting someone's woman. I know your idea of Omega is not based upon that one conversation or that one situation.

What is evident is that the bond between Omegas is unique and cannot be qualified nor quantified in a chatroom discourse. But I can correctly and unequivocally state that it is nothing like being jumped into a gang or being foxhole buddies and nothing I stated to Brother Ross would indicate that.

[Blackwatch]

Doggeystle82,
I know that every man of Omega Psi Phi doesn't think like that young undergrad neo did and I apologize if you believed that was my assertion, for I know too many men of Omega that have a more mature understanding of brotherhood, but all of those men also seem to talk like you about the importance of pledging in making Omega men correctly. But, I think that this example is a worst case scenario of the whole "pledging makes good brothers" mentality. When you state that the members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity who are financially active, attend community service functions, attend and register & vote at conventions, are upstanding men in the community, and excell at their chosen field of endeavor are only "good members" and could only be "good bruhs" if they pledged, it seems to me the brotherhood, or at least the validation that you give "authentic" brothers of Omega Psi Phi, is based on the intense experience of a pledge process. I am not saying that if a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha is not financially active, then I would not consider him a brother, but he is not living up to the "Espirit de Fraternite" and understand that he is not maintaining all that he should uphold when he was granted the priviledge to wear Alpha Phi Alpha on his chest.

I know that you say that you cannot extol the unique brotherhood of Omega Psi Phi on an internet message board, but can you talk about your understanding of Philios love in a more general context?
Blackwatch!!!!!!

[DoggyStyle82]

Originally posted by Blackwatch
Doggeystle82,
I know that every man of Omega Psi Phi doesn't think like that young undergrad neo did and I apologize if you believed that was my assertion, for I know too many men of Omega that have a more mature understanding of brotherhood, but all of those men also seem to talk like you about the importance of pledging in making Omega men correctly. But, I think that this example is a worst case scenario of the whole "pledging makes good brothers" mentality. When you state that the members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity who are financially active, attend community service functions, attend and register & vote at conventions, are upstanding men in the community, and excell at their chosen field of endeavor are only "good members" and could only be "good bruhs" if they pledged, it seems to me the brotherhood, or at least the validation that you give "authentic" brothers of Omega Psi Phi, is based on the intense experience of a pledge process. I am not saying that if a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha is not financially active, then I would not consider him a brother, but he is not living up to the "Espirit de Fraternite" and understand that he is not maintaining all that he should uphold when he was granted the priviledge to wear Alpha Phi Alpha on his chest.

I know that you say that you cannot extol the unique brotherhood of Omega Psi Phi on an internet message board, but can you talk about your understanding of Philios love in a more general context?
Blackwatch!!!!!!

In a word, no.

Also, you are mis-characterizing my position on what is a good member. There are plenty of people who can take a good ass whupping. That doesn't make anyone my brother or a good one at that.

[inasoul]

bro. blackwatch peace to you and yours. i am new to the chat and i would like to at least review the discussion that spawned this new thread.

i would appreciate any refernce or link

yours fraternally

#1 mercury
the elements (03/11/01)
Iota Epsilon Lambda
nassau np bahamas

[Blackwatch]

The discussion stemmed from a discussion about sexism in greekdom in the AKA discussion board here on greek chat. Go there and look for the thread entitled "Sexism in Greekdom" and Bro. Divine 9 and Doggeystlye82's debate started on page 2, I think.
Blackwatch!!!!!!