A Moment In Alpha History: GET OUT THE VOTE
“To all Alpha men, I propose the following pledge: “I pledge myself to become a registered voter as soon as I am eligible; to vote in all elections that are open to me; to work untiringly until Negroes have helped to break down the Fascist one-party system of the South established by the Supreme Court when it authorized the exclusion of Negroes from the Democratic Party”–Brother Rayford W. Logan, Director of Education.
Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc. has been in the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement as early as 1905 when Brother Dr. W.E B. Dubois organized the Niagara Movement, a forerunner of the NAACP. Brother DuBois stated “we claim for ourselves every right that belongs to a free born American, political, civil, and social. And until we get these rights we will never cease to protest and assail the ears of America with the story of its shameful deeds toward us.” Alpha Phi Alpha’s early emphasis on the right to vote began with organizing support to abolish the poll tax and urgent need to vote. The national program of “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People” became the forerunner of a national registration campaign and for prosecuting voting cases.
Brief History: Through the efforts of Brother Dr. Rayford Whittingham Logan (15th General President), who helped organize voter registration drives and citizenship schools during the 1920s and 1930s, and pioneering a program to teach black southerners how to resist white intimidation at the polls. In 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to his Black Cabinet and also drafted Roosevelt’s executive order prohibiting the exclusion of blacks from the military in World War I. Elected as the Fraternity’s Director of Education by General President Dr. Charles Harris Wesley (14th General President), he was instrumental in forming Alpha Phi Alpha’s Foundation and expanding Alpha’s education crusade. Through the efforts of GTGC campaign launch in 1920, the result of this effort was the development of “Education for Citizenship”, designed to acquaint Blacks with their rights as citizens and educate them in order to make use of these rights. Did you know that in 1930, “Education for Citizenship” was originally named “Educational Adjustment Movement”.
Brother Logan used the pledge above during the 26th General Convention in New Orleans (December 1937), when he submitted his report as the Director of Education that “Education of Citizenship” was the slogan chosen as “an extensive, intelligent, participation, on the part of Negroes in the affairs of government”. Brother Logan discussed the debate over the slogan was in part of the Harrison-Black-Fletcher Bill, which gave the opportunity for Alpha Phi Alpha to gear this campaign to more of a definite program. Harrison-Black-Fletcher Bill was presented to the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress. This bill provided federal appropriation that would be distributed among states and territories on the basis of population of five and twenty years. It was Alpha Phi Alpha uniting with other twenty-seven national organizations forming the National Coordinating Committee, to help the bill provide more equitable distribution and expenditure of federal funds. From this development and a new thrust came our famous slogan “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People” as a mandated national program for all chapters to implement and symbol of a movement to help bring hope to Black Americans who were disenfranchised at the ballot box, but possessed real power by voting.
Even with the implementation of this national program, in the 1940’s, obstacles to voting included that only 3% percent of eligible African-Americans in the South were registered to vote. Jim Crow laws, like literacy tests and poll taxes, were meant to keep Africa-Americans from voting. Please see a brief timeline:
-1964, 24th Amendment made poll taxes illegal in federal elections.
– Votings Rights Act of 1965, aimed to overcome all legal barriers at state and local levels the right to vote under the 15th Amendment.
-Poll taxes were banned in 1966 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
-2006, Congress extended Sec. 5 of the Voting Rights Act for an additional 25 yrs.
-In 2012, at the General Convention, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. adopted the slogan “First of All, We Vote”. This was an extension of “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People” to extend civic engagement that includes work extended beyond voter registration, and grassroots community organizing. The attitude of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc. “recognizes that simply knowing the facts is not enough to motivate people to exercise their rights as citizens, but for chapters to create an awareness of issues that affect the voter at the local, state, and national levels.”
-December, 2019: House voted to reinstate federal oversight of state election law
These past months, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and individual chapters have been actively engaging in encouraging everyone to exercise your right to vote on November 3rd. Numerous programs like “Black Men Vote”, “When We All Vote”, “Every vote matters, Every voice matters” and now “Get Out the Vote”. Brothers we have the opportunity to continue these efforts and the momentum.
***Please note that recently Brother Rev. Karl Downs (Delta Chapter) who served as a mentor to the late Jackie Robinson was credited to have coined the slogan “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People” (this has yet to be confirmed given the timelines). However, all records indicate that this National Program was initiated during the 1930s with the slogan by the Alpha Omicron chapter (Johnson C. Smith University), when many African Americans had the right to vote but were prevented from voting because of poll taxes, threats of reprisal, and lack of education about the voting process.***
This is your moment in Alpha History.
Brother Sean Hall, Historian
It is our task to blaze the way and keep our feet upon the path of progress and with prophetic vision keep alive in us the spirit of cooperation. These thoughts, my brothers, are my conception of our duties and responsibilities to Alpha Phi Alpha.”–Jewel Robert Harold Ogle, April 21, 1936