The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities [Mass Market Paperback]

Lawrence C. Ross Jr. (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This history of black fraternities and sororities confirms the underlying purpose of these institutions: to provide a supportive educational environment for their members during college and social and business networks beyond college. Ross notes the substantial variation on the specific circumstances behind the formation of black fraternities and sororities. For example, Alpha Phi Alpha was formed at Cornell University just after the turn of the last century to counterbalance extreme racial hostilities aimed at the few black students. Shortly thereafter, in the more protective environment of predominantly black Howard University, Omega Psi Phi was formed. More recently (1963), older commuter students at Morgan State formed Iota Phi Theta. The underlying theme in all cases was camaraderie with a special emphasis on providing support to minorities in hostile environments, whether on campus or the broader racial environment of the U.S. Ross profiles several members of black fraternities and sororities, many of them prominent, and notes the contributions the groups have made to black leadership in the U.S. Vernon Ford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (July 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758202709
• ISBN-13: 978-0758202703
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

LAWRENCE C. ROSS, JR., an important writer of African American literature, has written five books, including The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities; The Ways of Black Folks: A Year in the Life of a People; Money Shot: The Wild Nights and Lonely Days in the Black Porn Industry; Friends With Benefits; and Skin Game.

The Divine Nine is a multiple Los Angeles Times, Essence, and Blackboard bestseller. In both hard cover and trade paper, The Divine Nine is in its seventh printing with over 50,000 copies sold to date. It also remains on the Amazon.com African American studies bestsellers list, and for the past year has been the #1 best selling book among African American college students. His novels Friends With Benefits and Skin Game were Blackboard best sellers.

Educated at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Los Angeles, Ross received a Bachelor of Arts in History from UCLA. Ross also received a Master of Fine Arts from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Ross has lectured at over 400 colleges and universities, as he is universally recognized as an expert in the field of African American fraternities and sororities. He has appeared on National Public Radio, Good Morning Atlanta, and is regularly interviewed by Ebony, Essence, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, The Root.com, The Grio.com, the BBC and National Public Radio, among others.

Ross began his writing career in the mid 90s as the managing editor of Rap Sheet magazine, the West Coast's first hip hop publication. After two years of writing about hip hop and interviewing the top stars in music, Ross moved to the Los Angeles Independent Newspapers, where he covered local politics in Westwood, Culver City, Hollywood and West Hollywood, for three years.

Ross currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife April and their twelve-year old son Langston..

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Divine Nine, December 31, 1999

By 

Llewelyn T. Barton (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Divine Nine: The History of African-American and Sororities in America (Hardcover)

I gifted myself with a copy of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities by Lawrence C. Ross, Jr. It is a must have book that all Black Greeks and African Americans in general should display on their bookshelves!

The author is a 15 year member of Alpha Phi Alpha, married to a soror of Delta Sigma Theta and is a journalist who has written for many newpapers. He realized that the history of our organizations is an important part of the history of our people in this country in this century and should be told. The time and effort that he put into compiling the information in the book must have been mammoth.

The book is divided into sections profiling each sorority and fraternity. Each section contains a historical overview, interviews with an undergraduate and a graduate chapter, profiles and lists of prominent members, messages from the national president/basileus/polemarch and pictures dating back to the early years. This is followed by a section entitled Achievers Talk which consists of interviews with members such as Spencer Christian, Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant, Cynthia Horner, John H. Johnson, Julian Malveaux, Shaquille O'Neal, Tavis Smiley, Faye Wattleton, just to name a few. They each speak about what membership means to them and impart an important message that they feel fraters and sorors should hear. The author follows this section with information from the National Pan Hellenic Council and procedures for those who are seeking membership.

Our organizations could not have done a better public relations job. There are no secrets revealed, just great accomplishments. The recurring theme is our achievements as organizations and those of individual members. We all know about the projects that our own sorority/fraternity have championed and are proud. When you look at the collective activities, our contributions to our people and communities have been and continue to be monumental. It's only appropriate that this book was written at this time when we are in the process of changing centuries and approaching the anniversaries of 100 years of existance.

This is something I think we all need to support and applaud.

LTB

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but problematic..., February 10, 2000

By 

M. Jennings "Nupe357" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Divine Nine: The History of African-American and Sororities in America (Hardcover)

Let me first state that this book is an excellent reference for those intersted in African-American fraternities. However, it does have a few shortcomings. The book is primarily a summary of the history of each of the nine NPHC organziations. This is fine but where is the historical analysis? Without this, all we get is a "basic" history which tells us little about the evolving context that continuously shapes these organizations. Second, this book does not do justice to the huge "shake-up" that has occured surrounding the monumental changes in how NPHC organizations create new members. This issue is at the very core of "fraternal idenity" and what it means to be a member of an African-American fraternity/sorority in today's society. So how come it isn't discussed more? This is akin to ignoring the presence of an elephant that is sitting in your living room!

Lastly, despite being a history book, Mr. Ross falls slightly short in his examination of the early years of surrounding the history of black "Greeks." First, how does Mr. Ross justify including on his list of famous Alpha men a person (Frederick Douglass) who was dead more than ten years before Alpha Phi Alpha was founded? Second (and more importantly), how can you even BEGIN to talk about African-American greek-letter organziations without mentioning (or discussing) the role that Prince Hall freemasonry played in shaping the African-American fraternal movement of the early twentieth century?

All in all this is a good book but a truly thorough analysis of these 9 organizations has yet to be written...

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Those Interested in Greek Life, February 7, 2000

By 

A Sorority Woman - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Divine Nine: The History of African-American and Sororities in America (Hardcover)

I was very disappointed in the book. I felt that the book was written for the benefit of people interested in Black Greek Life or men interested in Alpha. For all of the hoopla surrounding this book, it's written more like several long drawn out magazine articles than it is a book(I am still trying to figure out the point of including an interview section). I found that it did not read as smoothly as a "real" novel would. I found it interesting that he spent double the amount of pages talking about his organization, Alpha Phi Alpha than any other(40 vs. 20). I found him to be biased in his view of some of the fraternities in regards to what he included. Also, some of the "history" that he included about those fraternities is questionable. And finally, I found that the interview section of supposed prominent greeks to be uninteresting. Had he spent more time on research and actually learning about the other organizations as opposed to taking things out of their history books, I would have enjoyed the book. So, basically, I would recommend the book to someone trying to get an insight onto Black Greek Life but not to a fellow Black Greek(It's just not worth the $30).