The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
The first African American organization established at the University of Oklahoma, Zeta Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, was founded on October 23, 1967. They are celebrating their Golden Jubilee (50th) Anniversary this week in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Keynote Speaker is Delbert DeWitty, a 1968 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School and a 1972 graduate of the University of Oklahoma Business School with a degree in Business Management. Here are excerpts from his speech where he discusses the legacy of their Chapter and Fraternity.
“Six degrees of separation is the idea that all living things in the world are six or fewer steps away from each other.
It’s kind of mystical and those that know the history of Alpha understand that the Sphinx from Egypt is a critical part of the Egyptian Mystery Systems…………………….It’s a perfect metaphor for Zeta Zeta which always has had a type of destiny.
My personal story is the Zeta Zeta story. It also was a type of destiny. When I contacted the Zeta Zeta Sage, Dr. John Coleman to ensure he made arrangements to attend our Golden Jubilee celebration, he stated that I was the perfect choice for guest speaker. I immediately understood what he meant. When I graduated in 1972, I was hired by Southwestern Bell Telephone in Topeka, Kansas. I later discovered that I was initially scheduled to go to the Tulsa, Oklahoma office, my hometown, which is the typical process. But the computer department in Tulsa decided they were not ready to participate in the new Affirmative Action experiment. Consequently, I was sent to Topeka. This is the African American story and I wear it like a badge of honor.
Zeta Zeta History is African American History which is Oklahoma History which is Native American History which is American History. Let’s see if we can begin to connect the dots.
What is the origin of the Zeta Zeta Ethic? The answer can be found in our name, Alpha Phi Alpha at the University of Oklahoma. Alpha Phi Alpha was founded in 1906 and Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Coincidence or Mystical? Actually, the University was founded in 1890 and the African American influence on our state began long before 1906.
From the mid-nineteenth century to 1920, African-Americans established nearly 100 identifiable towns and communities in Oklahoma. The best known nationally is Black Wall Street but the most popular during my time in Oklahoma was Boley. Most of Alphas’ founders and early initiates can be traced back to these communities. Just how far back can we directly trace the Zeta Zeta lineage?
A key figure during the migration of the Creek Nation as part of the Trail of Tears was an African named Cow Tom who was born in 1810. His ability to speak English made him invaluable during their transition. Cow Tom became a chief of the Muskogee nation in Oklahoma and eventually retired to farm life and his cattle business. He became the patriarch and ancestor of the prosperous Simmons Oil Family in Oklahoma. The oil magnet Jake Simmons is the grandson of Cow Tom. The tenacity of this powerful African Creek leader was carried through Jake Simmons Jr; a Zeta Zeta founder.
Let’s touch on a little more Zeta Zeta stock. ‘Ada Louis Sipuel was one of the first to challenge Oklahoma segregation laws. In 1946 she brought a suit against the Oklahoma State Board of Regents demanding admission to the University of Oklahoma College of Law.’ How many of you know Oklahoma was chosen as a test case by the national organization of the NAACP? Consequently, Alpha brother Thurgood Marshall, (who would later become the first African American on the Supreme Court) was representing Ms. Sipuel. My mother, Dorothy Moses DeWitty, was a student at Langston University in 1946 and she was chosen to represent Langston on a forum to discuss the integration of Oklahoma University in Norman. She could not stay in a Norman hotel at that time and could only participate in the forum after a White Norman family agreed to put her up for the night. She would later become the first Black female school principal and Black female city counselor in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The late Judge Carlos Chappelle was initiated at Zeta Zeta in 1970. His father was Rev. T.O. Chappelle and his grandfather, Attorney P. A. Chappelle was part of a group who filed lawsuits on behalf of the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.
Transcendence is in Alpha’s Preamble and Preeminence, a standard for Zeta Zeta has become our tradition. We have always celebrated the founding of Zeta Zeta in a big way. One of my earliest memories is when we invited Earnest Morial, our General President to celebrate with us. He was our banquet speaker at the OU Memorial Union and was the first African American Federal Judge in Louisiana and the first African American Mayor for the city of New Orleans.
Oklahoma Alphas have always held leadership positions nationally. William H Hale became an Alpha at Beta Kappa Chapter and became the first Langston Alum to serve as President of the University in 1960. He also served as General President of Alpha Phi Alpha. John Horse, a Black Seminole born in 1812, became a leader fighting for control of Florida. After defeating General Andrew Jackson and a peace treaty was signed, he migrated to Oklahoma. When the peace was broken and John Horse was imprisoned, he escaped, moved south and founded Wewoka, Oklahoma before continuing to Mexico where he became a Captain in the Mexican Army. Many Alphas came from Wewoka, including Phail Wynn, who was born there before moving to Lawton. Brother Henry Ponder is also from Wewoka and like Brother Hale, served as a college president as well as the 28th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha.
Black Oklahomans have always lobbied Washington. For example, in 1884, John Horse traveled to Washington DC and asked that the Seminoles be separated from their cousins the Creeks because their different views on slavery were causing conflict. E. P. McCabe went to Washington and lobbied President Benjamin Harrison about making Oklahoma a Black state before returning to Oklahoma helping to establish the city of Langston in 1892 and Langston University in 1897. Brother Jake Simmons Jr. continued this legacy by serving in the White House as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton. Our Zeta Zeta Founders set an astonishing example of Service which also includes Phail Wynn who was a Special Forces Officer in the US Army.
ZETA ZETA FUTURE
Historically Booker T. Washington, Brother WEB Dubois, Marcus Garvey, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, Brother Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X have debated the role of EDUCATION, ECONOMICS, POLITICS, and AFRICA on the development of African Americans.
During my lifetime, I have seen the focus move from Education, to Housing, to Economics.
Technology has transformed the discussion on economics as well as every other subject, and its sanctioned inclusion is now termed INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. Not by choice, but by destiny, I have spent more than 40 years in this industry. Just think of the impact social media has had on the accumulation, assessment, discussion, and dissemination of information. Information is data, and our job is to ensure accuracy, organize it, and present in a context that gives it relevance, increases understanding and decreases uncertainty; while technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.
Of the Black leaders mentioned, Dr. John Henrik Clarke talked most about historical distortions of information that actually decrease understanding and increase uncertainty even before the current impact of technology. He mentioned that these distortions have clouded analysis and produced false images of inferiority in minorities and superiority in Whites. Though there are many examples, let’s look at the start of this country.
- We now know that Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage in 1492 heading for East Indies. He was actually lost and that is why he called Native Americans “Indians”. Why do we continue to perpetuate this known distortion? Paul Harvey, columnist, had a segment he called “The Rest of the Story”. We know that Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella financed his voyage and created what is commonly called the Spanish Empire in 1492. Here is “The Rest of the Story.” Did you know that African Moors ruled Spain from 711 to 1492? The date is obviously IMPORTANT. Mansa Musa, was born in 1280 and died in 1337 and ruled the wealthy West African Moorish Empire or Mali. At the time of his death, FORBES magazine has estimated that his wealth would be worth $400 billion dollars today and declared him the richest person in the history of the world. Connecting the dots; is it possible that Moorish Wealth contributed to the financing of the Christopher Columbus expedition?
How about an example closer to home? How many of you remember Brother Booker Shackleford? Drifting back to service for a moment, he was the first African American on the Norman, Oklahoma police force. During one of my trips to Norman with the Black Alumni Society, he informed me that the Norman Police department maintains a “Watch List” and I and my brother Michael were listed as number 1 and 2; He, because he was president of the Black Student Union and I, because I was president of Alpha. The irony is that my brother Reginald is the most militant of the three.
This phenomenon of distorted information has continued today but for the first time in history become institutionalized and identified as ALTERNATIVE FACTS.
Alternative facts are the antithesis of Information. One example is that Barack Obama was born in Africa. 30% of the Republican Party still believes he was born in Africa. People are comfortable creating their own “facts” in order to maintain their narrative. Consequently, we must now differentiate between truth and facts. We need to always question conventional wisdom. I remember attending a business class at the University of Oklahoma Business School where the professor began a discussion on Maximization of Profits. I remember questioning that at the time because it seemed to me maximizing profit would lead to greed, selfishness, and even corruption. I did not, however, challenge him and today it seems that this concept contributes to society’s ethical lapses.
Some Alternative Facts seem to be deliberate efforts to deceive while others seem to be honest mistakes. Effective discernment is the required Priority for our Future Success. Discernment is “The Ability to Judge Well”.
Semantics and nuance are important. I would say I consider myself a semanticist. So, what is the difference between “Alternative Facts” and “Lies”? Some people say they are the same thing. We do have a word for that; it is called synonym.
And synonyms do address the issue of nuance. As another example; after I graduated, I was more comfortable challenging conventional wisdom. When I was promoted to St. Louis as a District Manager, I became the first at that level to serve as President of the Black Employee Interest Group. Since I had challenged conventional wisdom, I decided to take on Alternative Facts also. I wrote an article in our regular news letter stating that those assuming Affirmative Action was allowing unqualified minorities and women into our company overlooked the fact that we have unqualified white males at every level currently. Obviously, that got a little attention. HR called me in to indicate their concern for my safety because they had received threats. I told them I was not concerned and did not feel threatened. Additionally, Charles Foster, one of our Executive Vice Presidents, called me in for a chat. He was an OU grad and felt some kinship I presume. He asked was I advocating that we hire unqualified minorities. Though I felt he knew the answer, I replied absolutely not. He then gave me a few managerial tips primarily focused on the job rather community concerns. This was during the divestiture of the Bell System and I actually took his advice and scheduled Information Sessions open to all employees and presented by Executive Vice Presidents. Hundreds of employees attended each session and I was a little disappointed that more African Americans did not attend. As an aside, I reviewed our annual report for his compensation and noticed that with stock options, Foster was making over $1 million annually. This was in the 1980s.
Politicians say we are a divided country. And some say it has nothing to do with race; but history tells a different story. During our founding “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal”. But there were slaves; so we declared by law that slaves were only 3/5 of a person………….You mean we used alternative facts back then? 100 years later we fought the Civil War and some said it was not about slavery it was about economics………Alternative Facts!
Today there are Neo-Nazis, White Nationalists, and White Supremacists supporting Donald Trump’s effort to replace traditional conservatism. This has increased divisiveness within our community.
Alternative Facts, Semantics and Nuance are found in daily African American struggles as we decide between: Conform, Adapt, Compromise, “Courage of Convictions”, and argue about terms such as Blackness, Uncle Tom, and Sell Out.
Let’s look at current events:
Jemele Hill, an ESPN Host, called out President Trump for being a White Supremacist. Alternative Facts dictate that this assertion will be denied. John Pavlovi, a White Pastor, said of Trump, “You don’t get to spend a lifetime exemplifying the absolute insulation from accountability that is White Privilege – and get to play the victim card when a Black woman asks why that is”.
Colin Kaepernick protested racism and can’t find a job. When Des Bryant, Dallas Cowboys, was asked about supporting Kaepernick, he said, “I have a family to feed”.
Raynard Jackson, an African American GOP Consultant, invited Steve Bannon, a self-proclaimed Alt Right member, and White Nationalist, to speak at a Black Entrepreneurs Summit by saying, “I’ve known Steve a long time. You can call Steve a lot of things – racist ain’t one of them.” Alternative Facts have strange consequences.
Though we understand why African Americans “Sell Out”, that does not mean we should attempt to justify it. The terms “Sell Out”, “Uncle Tom”, and “Racist” are divisive; but represent concepts or philosophies created by Racism. They are symbols of inequality practiced by groups of people, both Black and White who feel their providential accomplishments are personally earned and relieve them of any responsibility to humanity.
Where you see yourself and others on this continuum is based solely on your view of Race.
The Alpha Mission states:
“Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated develops leaders, promotes brotherhood, and academic excellence, while providing service and advocacy for our communities”
It seems that the wisdom of our founders transcends time and circumstance. Brotherhood should be the focus of our fraternity, our community, our country, and our world.
Going forward, our brothers need to focus on the REAL story; the Zeta Zeta story. We often get confused and lose focus due to all the “Alternative Facts”. It can create what we call “Uncle Toms”, “Sell Outs”, and “Racists”. But if we stay rooted in the fundamentals of Alpha in general and the Zeta Zeta Mystic in particular, I am convinced that the ties that bind us together will be stronger than the forces trying to tear us apart. Thank You”
