Most of the members were eventually released after posting $2500 in bail. Although all of the members were charged, only one member chose to turn himself in to the Clarke County Jail. 27, Kappa pledges at the University of Georgia were "lined up and struck several times" at a member's home. One of the most recent cases of black Greek hazing involved eleven members of the Kappa Alpha Psi chapter at the University of Georgia. Smith also stated that if the organization were to “find, or catch, or see anyone doing it, he’s subject to disciplinary action.”īut many Kappas nationwide continue to disregard hazing policy today. However, branding can cause an overgrowth in scar tissue, especially for African-Americans, who are more likely to keloid than any other racial group.Īlthough branding is still viewed “ as the norm” in the black Greek initiation process, Ted Smith, the executive secretary of the Philadelphia chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, told the New York Times two decades ago that the Kappa organization did not condone branding “at all." Some individuals who are branded go as far as picking off skin to create certain shapes or will clean and soak the scar during the healing process. The way the brand scars depends on the genetics of the receiver and the expertise of the brander. Kappa pledges at the University of Georgia were "lined up and struck several times." (Rebecca Orlandini)īranding, or "getting a hit," is more common among all-black fraternities, and is most popular within the fraternity Omega Phi Psi, also known as "the Q's" or "Q Dogs." Omegas wear a specific brand called “ the Friend link” or the “Friend-over-Friend pattern.” This brand is composed of two designs and “takes a total of four hits.” Today, new members of black fraternities and sororities are still expected to endure “the branding process” during initiation, when a melted hanger is pressed into the new members chest to symbolize black pride and new friendship. The practice of branding stems from West African tribal traditions and has held symbolic value in the black Greek community since the 1930s. Or, there is the physical branding, the cast iron that melts part of a new members flesh, like a white master might have once done to one of the member's ancestors. In terms of black Greek life, these definitions of branding can be applied in two ways: the brand name like “Alpha Kappa Alpha” that becomes “I’m AKA,” before I’m in an introduction. The term brand usually describes a “name given to a product or service from a specific source.” However, a brand can also be defined as “an identifying mark burned on livestock or (especially formerly) criminals or slaves with a branding iron, or a habit, trait, or quality that causes someone public shame or disgrace.” Most people don't know that the tradition of branding is still common among members of black Greek chapters nationwide. I would never do my hair every day or put on heels for class, prior to chanting a “Greek chant” to let the world know that “me and my girls” had arrived. And if “one of my sisters” ever attempted to brand me, I would snatch the hot iron straight from her hand and whisper, " you, better run.” Within the first week of getting there, older students, or "Spelmanites," warned me that if I were a Greek legacy, I would probably “be hunted down” by the chapter presidents on campus.īut I just as quickly began to avoid anything and everything Greek altogether, because I realized that joining AKA, or any black sorority, would mean fitting into a mold that just wasn’t me. A sorority for girls like me: who loved brushing on make up, smacking gum and giggling at all the “fine” black men who’d walk by.Ĭollege would just be me and my girls, some “black American princesses” who had friends of all shades in high school, but would sport our AKA kelly green and pink jackets while strutting around campus with pride. But I was crushed to discover the harsh reality of what it would really mean to join an all black sisterhood.īefore transferring to USC, I attended Spelman, an all-black and all-women's college in Atlanta. When I was younger, I dreamt of joining a specific sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated.
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