Our statement on
the Biden-Harris Inauguration
O n this august and celebratory occasion, the Inauguration of President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Devi Harris as our nation’s forty-sixth holder of the highest office in the land and forty-ninth holder of the second-highest office, the Brothers of the Towson-Catonsville Alumni Association of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, enthusiastically congratulate our newly elected leaders, and extend both our warmest regards and best wishes for a successful administration of our government.
Kappa Alpha Psi’s Support of Vice President Harris
The men of Kappa Alpha Psi are immeasurably proud to call Vice President Harris our Greek Sister as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Her tenures as Attorney General of and U.S. Senator from California have prepared her well for her new office and its immense attendant challenges. We place the fullness of our confidence in her abilities to serve our nation with distinction. Along with her Mother, may she rest in peace, whom Vice President Harris recognizes with constant praise and whom she credits for her development as a leader, her Sorority planted and cultivated additional seeds of leadership. Throughout her career as a public servant, Vice President Harris has continued to put into practice one of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s tenets and worked to bring the intended fruits of this admirable objective from aspiration to fruition: “to be of “Service to All Mankind”. Vice President Harris exudes this ethos, as she is committed to execute the duties of her office in the best interests and for the betterment of the nation.
Of Popular Vote
Historical Import of the Moment
Then-candidate Biden’s selection of Senator Harris as his running mate and her election form a confluence of watersheds as the first woman of African descent and the first woman of South Asian descent to not only be selected and nominated as a candidate for Vice President, but also to win that high honor. The foot soldiers and heroes of the Abolition, Reconstruction, Civil Rights/anti-Jim Crow, and Suffrage Movements laid the foundation for Vice President Harris’s ascent. Her intellect, experience, skills, and talent drove her the rest of the way to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s, and our, “mountaintop”. How fitting it is that we celebrate this momentous occasion five days after his birthday and two days after the national holiday established to honor his life, work, and legacy.
That President Biden and Vice President Harris are taking the helm of the ship of state, in the midst of this unprecedented, perilous watershed in the history of our great constitutional republic, is an event the import and weight of which we cannot and must not fail to fully comprehend. We cannot assume that voting them into office will suffice; it will not. We must support their efforts by helping to increase the groundswell of support for equitable and reformative policies and legislation.
Voices from the Past and Our Obligation to Honor Them
Mark Twain is among several thinkers who were reputed to have said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Whether attributable to Twain or another, the profundity of the statement should not be missed. We are witnessing national tumult we never thought we would see, or see repeated, in our lifetimes. Yet here we are. What does the current, deeply disturbing climate portend for our nation’s future? Only God knows, but we must remain vigilant. That vigilance requires proactive planning, strategy, and execution. Our Foremothers and Forefathers endured horrific crimes against humanity in their struggles to first survive and to then attempt to thrive. Their blood cries out from American soil. Those cries compel us to civic action, to communicate with and enthusiastically engage our elected officials to convey the needs of the people, and advocate policies and legislation that must be realized to remedy past wrongs.
Our Forebears were brutally, savagely, and barbarically beaten, raped, tortured, mutilated, maimed, and murdered over centuries of unimaginable, hellish suffering. They were lynched simply for asserting their humanity and fighting for their constitutional rights, even those who wore the nation’s uniform. They fought on foreign soil to liberate the citizens of those lands, only to be refused the constitutional right of their own liberty when they returned to their own country. In both their military and civilian lives, African Americans risked their lives, and many made the ultimate sacrifice, even though they knew they would not likely see all or any of the fruits of their backbreaking work, incalculable suffering, and heroic sacrifices in their lifetimes. They did that work, endured that suffering, and made those sacrifices so we can have the rights denied to them. We must not dishonor their blood-bought legacies by failing to use what they bought for us, which they did not possess. We must honor and give solemn reverence to their heroic lives, the suffering they endured, the innumerable sacrifices they made, and the epically tragic deaths of many. We must do this not just for them, but, more importantly, for our progeny.
Vice President Harris is fully aware of these darkest chapters in our nation’s history, but she is also highly optimistic that our best days have yet to be lived. She believes in the promise of America and is committed to strengthening our democratic institutions, the rule of law, and our constitutional republic, as she serves all Americans with the threefold imperative of equity, justice, and opportunity as her north star. The men of Kappa Alpha Psi enthusiastically encourage her in these endeavors as she continues on the path of servant leadership in her new capacity. Brava, Madam Vice President!