Alpha Phi Alpha inspires with 'Ritual'

The Alpha Phi Alpha week started on Sunday with a dose of enlightenment. The first event of the week was "The Ritual," put on in conjunction with Delta Sigma Theta members. \nThe program is geared toward unifying the black community, specifically college students. One of the other important underlying themes is honoring those who struggled before. \n"This event is to everybody in college," Jason Lee, Alpha Phi Alpha member, said. "There are a lot of African-Americans here, and we need to pay homage to those who struggled to get us here." \nThere was not a big turnout for the event, but there was a healthy dose of crowd participation. The beginning of the event started off with a prayer and song. \nThe audience stood up to sing the "Negro National Anthem." The singing of the anthem was a tool to help unify the audience and remind them of the African-American struggle, Lee said. \nAlthough the crowd was small, the emcee took full advantage of the situation. He asked everyone in the crowd to introduce themselves, as a way to unify the group.\nUeline Newman, an Alpha Phi Alpha member, stood up to recite a poem he wrote. The poem captured the brevity of college years and how we should all take that into consideration. \n"I was told 'The Ritual' was something to unite the past and the present, and I was inspired by that," Newman said. \nAfter the opening prayer and introductions, The Libation ceremony took place. Derived from Kwanzaa, the Libation ceremony is a tribute to ancestors of the past. \nThe crowd stood up as emcee Arnold Lane sprinkled water to the north, east, south and west parts of the auditorium and turned in the appropriate direction. It was a solemn ceremony and was the core of the event. \n"I hope no one here takes lightly what just happened here," Lane said. "It represents how we got here, and I know I can stand here and say someone broke their back to get me here." \nThe ceremony acknowledges that people from all directions of the earth fought and struggled so that African-American people can be in school and receive an education. The Libation ceremony ended with a song relevant to the occasion. The song, performed by Alaina Williams, was about the trials and tribulations of the African-American people and how their faith provides comfort.\nThe enlightenment came when the keynote speaker Shaun Harper addressed the audience. He spoke of a divided African-American community and of uniting the greeks and non-greeks. \nHe also said there is inconsistency in the black community with a race of people going in opposite directions. \n"We can no longer turn our eyes away from the fact that unity in the community has been neglected by you and me," Harper said. \nHarper stressed the race is not over and going to college is not enough. \n"Our ancestors had dreams of us graduating, earning, saving, investing and giving back to the community," he said. \nHarper's words challenged the audience and suggested African-Americans work together to make IU a more conducive community for African-Americans. \nThe program ended with a "Circle of Identity," in which every member from the audience takes a link of a chain, breaks the chain and takes a piece home. This is also in remembrance of their ancestors and breaking the chains of slavery.