Stone Mountain-Lithonia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity delivered backpacks to several DeKalb County school children on Aug. 14, the first day of school for DeKalb.

Under the “KappaPak” program, members of the fraternity fill the bags with school supplies and give the bags out at local schools. 

This year new school bags filled with starter school supplies were given to children at Stoneview Elementary, Fairington Elementary, and Panola Way Elementary.  

In four years the project has grown from donating 50 bags to 300 bags this year. Civic leaders of DeKalb County were on hand to aid in the distribution of KappaPak most notably newly elected DeKalb County Commissioner Lee May and Cassandra Anderson-Litttlejohn, Chair, DeKalb County Board of Education.  more >>

When a black high school senior walked before Anthony Graham and a committee to interview for a scholarship last year, he had everything going against him.

His application was handwritten and sloppy. And he showed up for the interview dressed inappropriately.

Yet the student -- who was raised by a single mother and worked 40 hours a week at a local McDonald's to support his family -- interviewed quite well, and would have been a perfect scholarship candidate had his GPA not been so low.

"It was disappointing to see a high school senior working 40 hours a week and having the tools to be successful, and no one working with him," said Graham, 30, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction in N.C. A&T's School of Education.   more >>

Ella Mae Small will get the chance to live out her husband's vision for Concord.
And she's making history along the way.

Small, 72, who was chosen by City Council to fill the District 3 seat left vacant by the death of her husband Allen T. Small, will be the first woman to serve on City Council, said city officials.

"Just the historic significance of this and the fact that she will be the first female on City Council (is important to note)," said Mayor Scott Padgett, who is familiar with Small not only through her husband and her community service, but also as a fellow educator in Concord.   more >>

Seventeen-year-old Debon Campbell shows up at Nova High School dressed to the nines, his black shoes spit-shined, his slacks creased, a spiffy red tie on his starched white shirt.

On a particular day, around Broward County, about dozens of kids dress like Campbell, part of growing brotherhoods still in their teens, who plan to go on to college and become a full-fledged ''Greek'' in a fraternity.

In an era where the standard uniform for the average high schooler is big, baggy pants and white Tees -- and where peer pressure creates a ''coolness factor,'' Debon, a rising senior at Nova, stands out -- and that's just the way he wants it.

''I think other students look at us differently,'' said Debon, president of the Pompano Beach Kappa League, a mentoring program for high school students that's part of the black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. ``They look at us with respect.''  more >>

Earl F. Hilliard, Jr., son of former United States Congressman Earl F. Hilliard (AL 7, 1992-2002, Alabama's first African-American Congressman since Reconstruction), won the Democratic primary election for the Alabama State House of Representatives, District 60, which covers a large part of western Birmingham and surrounding areas.

Hilliard won forty percent (40%) of the votes cast in the Democratic primary on June 6, 2006 and was the top candidate in a field of five candidates. He received fifty-seven percent (57%) of the votes in the July 18th runoff election. Hilliard does not have any opposition in the November general election. 

Hilliard is a graduate of Morehouse College (BA 1991) and Howard University School of Law. After completing law school, Hilliard worked as a Civic Affairs Specialist in Corporate External Affairs for .. more >>

Dr. Louise A. Rice, 23rd National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., presents $100,000 check as first installment of the Distinguished Professor Endowed Chair Award to Dr. Victor Ukpolo, Chancellor of Southern University at New Orleans. The university received the DPEC Award, which the Sorority grants biennially to a historically Black college or university.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., made a major commitment to three Historically Black Colleges and Universities during its 48th National Convention held in late July 2006 in Philadelphia. At the convention's public meeting program, Dr. Louise A. Rice, the Sorority's national president, explained that the Delta National Executive Board and its Hurricane Relief Task Force stipulated that major financial contributions be made to the HBCU's affected by Hurricane Katrina. Collectively $700,000 will be awarded to Dillard, Xavier, and Southern Universities over the next five years. more >>

CINCINNATI ALUMNAE CHAPTER of SIGMA GAMMA RHO SORORITY AND CINCINNATI AFRICAN AMERICAN FIREFIGHTERS ANNOUNCES OPERATION BIG BOOK BAG TO BENEFIT FAMILIES FORWARD PROGRAM

Cincinnati, Ohio, August 25, 2006 – The Epsilon Lambda Sigma Cincinnati Alumnae chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Cincinnati African American Firefighters are currently collecting school supplies for Operation Big Book Bag to benefit Parham School and Families Forward. Items such as book bags, notebooks, writing and drawing paper, pencils and pens, dictionaries, rulers, glue, construction paper, textbooks, encyclopedia, computers and many other needed school items. Made available also through the efforts of membership is a nation-wide tutoring and mentoring program designed for the benefit of the children. This is the groups 3 year teaming up and Sigma Gamma Rho’s 5th year collecting supplies. ...   more »