105 Years of Service and Brotherhood
Click on the image above for the Founders’ Day message from Brother Tillman
Dear Brother,
In 1906, Harley and the Davidson brothers built their first factory on Chestnut Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Decades later, they would become one of the world’s most coveted models of Motorcycles, changing the way we travel on the highways and byways of our great nation.
In 1906, Mahatma Gandhi coined the term “Satyagraha”, which means “truth force”, to characterize the non-violent movement seen in South Africa at the time and then later seen in the United States during the Civil Rights era. A non-violent approach quickly became the spiritual mantra used by many freedom fighters around the world seeking peace and prosperity.
In 1906, The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunization for tuberculosis is researched and later developed as the world’s first vaccination to Tuberculosis. This vaccine saved millions of lives and revolutionized the way research methods are done in finding vaccinations to some of the world’s deadliest diseases.
And in 1906, our history book tells us Jewel George Biddle Kelley, acting as chair, called the meeting to order. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved after the calling of the role. Upon the call for old business, the question as to whether or not the organization was a fraternity was brought up. The question had been hanging over since the meeting of November 6. The presiding officer called for individual opinions upon the subject. Jewel Nathanial A. Murray moved that it be decided whether the organization continue with the idea of becoming a fraternity or continue as an organization for mutual benefit. It was moved that the organization become a fraternity. And thus it did. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was born, there, December 4th in the year nineteen hundred and zero six.
Little did those seven men know, that Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. would become the most influential, esteemed, and largest body of black organized men the world has ever seen. And 105 years later, we can still say, with certainty, that Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the motion carried to conceive it embody ideals of critical change. This initial investment yielded an abundance of assets.
105 years of Service
We serve our communities with pride. Our national programs encourage people to vote, be educated, and support our brotherly bonds. We stand collectively to give hope and prosperity to the downtrodden, displaced, and less fortunate. We work with a defined spirit to teach others how service is paramount to any active social organization. We have served each year from 1906-2011
105 years of Scholarship
We are scholars. We demand scholarship from others and we encourage education over indoctrination. We send young men to high school and college. We challenge each person under the guise of our educational programming to continue learning despite all challenges, to reach for the stars, and to move mountains for those stars to shine brightly upon the lives of the youths so moved to march onward and upward towards that light.
105 years of Leadership
We are leaders among leaders, and we are in the business “for the better making of men”. Many of our brothers serve as organizers leading the improvement of our justice system, professionals leading the reform of our health care system, diplomats and service men serving our country abroad and leading the world in establishing democracy and peace, and educators teaching our generations to come and leading them towards greater success and prosperity. Leadership is our best practice.
105 years of Brotherhood and Love for all mankind
Since our inception, it is clear that we have always needed organizations to assemble like-minded people together to create change. In those exchanges we see men interacting as brothers and exhibiting actions of brotherly love among themselves. In addition, we see our brothers, in their work, showing love for all mankind; in it, are those manly deeds that avail to us the common courtesy and respect we have gained from our members and communities.
No matter the year, location, or event, Alpha Phi Alpha is there, eager to answer the call to serve. Our years of experience continue a legacy defined by good virtue and sound judgment.
As each brother carries their membership card, adorns their pin, or sports their line jackets they are reminded of the sacrifices made, organization needed and challenges faced to forge our dear fraternal bond. 105 years is just the beginning. We have so much more ahead of us.
Brother, I bid today, on this 105th Anniversary of our founding, a new beginning. Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to be a fraternity serving the masses, educating the less educated, and loving mankind. It is the unmistakable sign that this group is a fraternity. It is in reality Founders’ Day. On this date, the victory of Alpha Phi Alpha is certain. Hereafter, there would be no misunderstanding. Alpha Phi Alpha is a fraternity, and the Black men bearing its name have been given the nucleus of continuing as the first national Black Greek letter fraternity.[1]
Let’s celebrate 105 more years to come.
Fraternally,
Brother Mark S. Tillman,
Candidate for 34th General President
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
[1] Wesley, Charles H. The History Of Alpha Phi Alpha, A Development In College Life. Pg. 31. Quoted.