Alpha Phi Alp
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Even in 2009, with an African-American president, a black man s
challenges
A quote from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.'s 33rd General President Herman "
Inaugural Address
01.27.2009 – Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr, 33rd General President of Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Inc. stated in his Inaugural Address, Saturday, January 24th at the Martin
Luther King, Jr. International Chapel on the campus of Morehouse College,
“Organizations like Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, as with all African-Americna Greek-
lettered fraternities and sororities, have unique opportunities to continue to be
vessels of stewardship to indeed help change our situations, predicaments, and
ultimately our country, and our world. Just because we have Obama in the White
House doesn’t mean we should sit back, relax, and say everything is now finally
gonna be alright. Alpha Phi Alpha realized early on that success relies on creating a
forum for input from those who are on the front-lines of providing education to the
young men in need of help. We must continue to rescue and save our Black Boys.”
“Unemployment is up, wages are down. In Georgia alone—where we meet this
weekend—it is the highest in 26 years according to figures release two days ago by
the Georgia Labor Department. The economy is in flux, and families have run out of
ways to make ends meet. Cancer, HIV, and AIDS cases are on the rise, and
healthcare to middleclass and the poor is on the decline. Incarceration rates are up,
graduation rates are down. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting
poorer. Even in 2009, with an African-American president, a black man is still unsafe
in the hands of brutal cops who wear blue, but will beat an innocent man black and
blue, simply because he is black. In the age of Obama, our work is not yet done. So
it is our time to step up and take the mantle of leadership in our communities, our
schools, our churches, our places of business, our social groups, everywhere we
can…we must. Alpha has much work