Customer Reviews

The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities

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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

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...

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).

The author has done an outstanding job of giving the reader a thorough overview of Black Greek-Lettered organizations. Time and time again, I found myself saying, "Really? - I didn't know that!"

Black Fraternities and Sororities are a part of the fabric of African America and this book does an excellent job of placing these organizations and their members in the context of the history and achievements of the Black experience. I recommend it highly!

I was very excited to hear about this book so I rushed out to buy it as quickly as I could. Being a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority I was disappointed to discover that several mistakes had been made in regard to my beloved sorority. The first naming Hattie O'Daniel (the first African American woman to win an Oscar) as a AKA, when in fact she was a SGRHO and the second mistake was getting the wrong name with the wrong picture of our only living founder. For the record Vivian White Marbury is our last living founder (and the last living founder of the orginal great eight, I might add) and Mr. Ross quotes Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little as the living founder. We are so proud of Soror Marbury and to see this misquote is most likely upsetting to all members of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. And from reading reviews from my other fellow black greeks I see that numerous other mistakes were made as well. It seems like Mr. Ross simply rushed the book out as fast as possible without covering his research more throughly. And it is true that it would appear that some basis is given towards Alpha Phi Alpha and other select sororities. My husband is an Alpha, and even he thought that the preference towards Alpha was not in the best taste considering the orginal idea behind the book. I commend Mr. Ross for the effort, but something of this importance should not have so many mistakes in it. My Advice? Save your $30 dollars and talk to members of the black greek community to get a better picture of what we are all about.

This book is a good idea, but the author needs to revise it and print a second edition. Here are some of the many errors:

1. Dr. David Satcher who was the president of Meharry Medical and currently the U.S. Surgeon General is not a Kappa, but an Omega man, who was initiated at Morehouse College's Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi.

2. DeHart Hubbard was not the first African American to represent the U.S. in the olympics, George Poage was the first and John Taylor was the first to win a gold medal. It should of said "DeHart Hubbard - The first African American to receive an individual Olympic gold medal, 1924."

3. George L.-P. Weaver was not a U.S. Secretary of Labor, he was "U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for International Affairs, 1961-1969."

4. The AKA hymn was also misquoted.

5. Herman Dreer's book is not from 1911-1961, but from 1911-1939.

Although I don't believe that Mr. Ross's work was as historical or sociological in nature as I (and others) might have liked, I have to give him credit for tackling such a huge assignment. It is the ONLY existing work of its kind out there. Despite the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of Black Greeks, Mr. Ross is the only one to have attempted this. As for the accusation of a bias toward A Phi A and AKA, I think most of us who belong to these organizations (if we are honest) must admit that it would be extremely difficult to write a book like this without showing something of a bias toward your affiliation so please move past the pictures on the cover! And for those of you who dislike the AKA slant, I suggest you reread the portion on how Delta Sigma Theta was formed. It doesn't exactly portray AKA in the most positive, forward-thinking light. I don't think the book is new information for those of us who are already Greek, but it would be a gold mine for people interested in joining one of our organizations or even for non-Greek parents wanting to know more about the organizations their college-age children are interested in. Many times the only information available seems to center around hazing and the alleged divisiveness that comes from belonging to one of the Divine Nine. Thank you, Mr. Ross, for finally portraying us in a positive light!

After reading Ross' work, I have both good and bad news! The good news is that I commend the author for undertaking such a project and for presenting African American fraternities and sororities in a positive manner! So, for this, Mr. Ross should receive "props" in attempting to chronicle and research the history of Black Greek brotherhoods & sisterhoods, which until recently have been largely neglected by scholars, researchers, and other individuals.

The bad news is that Mr. Ross' work is far from being a "meticulously researched history" of African-American fraternities and sororities, as he claims it to be. As a matter of fact, there are some instances in which the author's data is incorrect. Such is the case with the AKA hymn, which Mr. Ross misquotes. How hard is it to copy the correct national hymns from fraternity/sorority webpages? Afterall, this book does resemble one great big "cut & paste" from various chapters' websites straight into Ross' manuscript.

Furthermore, the sections comprised of chapter interviews are awkward. It seems that Mr. Ross was attempting to illustrate the qualities and characteristics of each organization (such as community service, brotherly & sisterly relations, etc.), but his presentation of such data is quite ineffective! He interviews an undergraduate and graduate chapter of each organization, which is supposed to represent the entire fraternity or sorority...now how "meticulous" is this?

Lastly, Mr. Ross romanticizes and over-exaggerates the history of certain organizations. For instance, while he introduces the other sororities in a calm, simple, and unenthusiastic manner, the Delta's section begins with praises and anthems: "When you speak of organizations and women who have had a profound impact on American society,... who have changed the lives of all women,...and who [represent] the future of African Americans, you must always look to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc." (215). Don't get me wrong--Delta's have had a positive impact on American culture and society, but so have Alpha Kappa Alpha, Zeta Phi Beta, and Sigma Gamma Rho.

Ross' presentation of this information might give individuals a very biased view of the success, function, and achievements of Greek-lettered organizations. So, I suggest that individuals read it with an open mind and a "fine-tooth comb!"

And by the way, Mr. Ross, I'm still waiting for a list of bibliographic sources and works to accompany this "meticulous" research!

The book is a great read for those who would like more information on all of the BGLO's. I would recommend that everyone read it. However, I would like to respond to Karen M. Muldrow's response. Mr. Ross is correct. Rosa Parks is a Honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Mr. Ross did a nice job of presenting some of the history of the black greek letter organizations. However, he failed to mention the first black fraternity, Sigma Phi Phi (Boule) which was founded in 1904 and Kappa Alpha Nu, so some of the rich past was left out. Despite his bias to his organization and to others, he does put together a good prespective of what greek life was and will be like in the 21st Century. In his own history, he did not mention that his founders kicked two of the original members out, and one of them was prominent in getting APHIA started as a Literary Group of African American Students! If you want the truth, lets tell it. However, give the brother props for his attempt. I did read the entire book, and highlighted a few errors, Dr. David Satcher is not a NUPE, but a Q. Very little history on the origin of the Pan Hellenic Council started by Phi Beta Sigma and Omega Psi Phi? Why did Kappa want to join Sigma? Sigma was the 1st Fraternity to move out west. The 2nd Sigma Chapter was Beta Chapter at Wiley College in Texas, 1915. Just like his Alpha History Books was on the shelf for 6 years, I can say this one will be on my self, just the same. Okay, but not worth the $30.....