You can?t talk about black culture without speaking of fraternities, said Dr. Raymond Winbush, director of Morgan State University?s Institute for Urban Research.
“Fraternities are the nerve center” of black culture, according to Jarrett Carter, a member of Groove Phi Groove, a fraternity outside of the Greek system founded at Morgan State University during the height of the Civil Rights movement.
“Groups like Groove are catalysts for the ultimate goals ? unity and cohesiveness,” Carter said. “If you don?t have groups that are specifically geared towards cultivating brotherhood and sisterhood, you don?t have motivation for a collective effort.”
In the ?60s, Groove Phi Groove participated in demonstrations and sit-ins in Baltimore, Carter said. Members fought for equality during segregation and continue to promote peace.
“We were born out of such a powerful black movement and that speaks to the momentum we?ve been able to carry through,” Carter said. “Our background is in improving conditions of African-American culture. We?re prepared to bring about change and maintain it.”
The struggle for equality is “better because of what our predecessors fought for” said Angela Young, a Zeta Phi Beta at Towson University and the president of the university?s National Pan-Hellenic Council that governs the campus? sororities.
“For a lot of people, [belonging to a sorority] gives them the confidence to go out and do things that they wouldn?t necessary do before,” Young said. “They get involved in their local SGA and city council meetings.”
Zeta Phi Beta gave Young “a chance to be active and uplift my own community,” she said. The Towson student believes “sororities allow women to come together and put aside their differences to make things better.”
