See. Frats Ain't All About Hazin' And Greek Freaks!

Some of ya'll get on me from time to time about not giving credit where it's due, and not praising "good news" stories. Okay, this one should fill my monthly quota. There.

Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi, the nation’s largest African-American Fraternities, have joined forces in an unprecedented union with Big Brothers Big Sisters to help black boys — often referred to the organization by single mothers — succeed. The fraternities — which represent 250,000 college educated-men, many who are among prominent African American business and community leaders — are not attempting to replace missing fathers. Rather, they expect their involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters as mentors, advocates, fundraisers and influencers, to help African American boys and other children break negative cycles.

The collaborative effort will expand Big Brothers Big Sisters’ near 20-year national partnership with Alpha Phi Alpha. Together, the fraternities will work with the organization to develop programs to encourage members and friends in their large professional, personal and social networks to also support the nation’s largest donor-supported network of volunteer mentors for youth. The men will urge those in their networks to become Big Brothers; donate and raise funds for the top-rated charity; serve on boards of directors for local agencies in their communities; create sponsorship partnerships with their employers; host recruiting and other engagement events, and provide enrichment programs for Little Brothers and boys who are ready to be matched.

In addition to joining forces with Big Brothers Big Sisters to develop new national initiatives, the fraternities will expand successful programs launched in recent years by individual local agencies and fraternity chapters. Big Brothers Big Sisters is also working to build partnerships with two other historically black fraternities — Phi Beta Sigma, which has a tradition of formal mentoring through its Sigma Beta Club, and Iota Phi Theta, which has a history of participation in Big Brothers Big Sisters.

To be perfectly fair, most undergraduate and grad chapters of black frats have long since had such service programs in place (ie: Kappa Alpha Psi's Guide Right mentoring program)[1], so linking up with BBBS is little more than a redirection of efforts. Still, for those who think frats don't do anything but lather in babyoil and dry hump gymnasium floors/fistfight over silly, trivial sh*t like stepping on someone's plot/sleep with comely grad school professors for grades primp and profile, now you know better. I guess.

Well done, brothers.

Question: Are Black Greek Letter Organizations more or less obsolete in this postracial, post-HBCU America? Before you take them to task for this noble effort, just how many kids have you mentored?

America’s Largest Black Fraternities Unite with Big Brothers Big Sisters to Help Boys with Absent Fathers Succeed [BPOTW]

[1] In case you're wondering why a proud Kappa man like me would run a photo of some Sigmas at the top of this post, the reason is two-fold. 1) I couldn't find decent photo of any Nupes on Google Images that wasn't marred with baby oil and feathers. 2) Who the hell really cares either way? We're not 19 years old! But mostly #1.