Page 15 - 100 Day Report-2021

100 Day Report
100 Day Report
We came together as one,
in recognition of our God-given hu- manity. We came together as one, as a demonstration of our collective determination and desire for racial progress. We came together as one, not out of fear, but faith, in numbers that spoke to the prodigious power of togetherness in the spirit of God.
This spirit of unity—the power of one— is not significant solely to the March on Washington, but to our very own Sigma Pi Phi. It is enshrined in the Preamble to our constitution: “...that each in this life may to his full ability
lege, exclusion, and old ways resistant to change. How and where do we march now? Or as Archon King asked, “Where do we go from here?” For some, marching will mean working pro bono or taking steps to assure the rights of arrested peaceful protesters. For some, it will mean actively work- ing to reverse anti-affirmative action legislation that seeks to set us back and obliterate the progress that has been made. I know some of you will hit the streets, but even more will work to guarantee that we are prepared when called to serve and protect our
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aid the other and by concerted action [i. e. , together] bring about those things that seem best for all that cannot be accomplished by individual effort. ”
That’s why our founders resolved that “a society be organized for the purpose of binding men of like qualities into a close, sacred, fraternal union. ”
So, what are the lessons for us today, 57 years after the March? One lesson is we cannot sit on our laurels and enjoy the fruits of those who struggled mightily before us. Archons should both lead and be seen as leaders. I believe our primary role in these matters is to direct and influence the discussion of issues that impact our communities and assure all that Black lives do indeed matter.
Many of us marched on Washington and other bastions of power, privi-
communities, each in his or her own way.
The way we march will be as varied and creative as the Archons and Ar- chousai in Sigma Pi Phi themselves. Some of us have the ability to march in two worlds, striding this peculiar “twoness” that Archon Du Bois wrote of. We socialize in one world and we work in another. For many, the two worlds never meet. But 57 years later, each of us who has grasped the ability to march in multiple worlds and speak in multiple dialects must teach the thinking classes of our nation about a martyred preacher’s dream of social uplift for us all. We must bring the two worlds together.
Before Archon King spoke about a dream for America, Langston Hughes waxed poetically about it: