General President Herman "Skip" Mason, Jr.'s Founders Day 2011

Dear brothers,

As I celebrate my 3rd Founders' Day as your general president, my heart grows fonder to the precepts and ideas of our beloved Jewels. They left for us an incredible legacy of leadership and service, and it has been my feeble attempt to convey their ideas and beliefs to the extended brotherhood. As we celebrate our 105th founding anniversary, this has been a particularly special year for us. As we assembled on the historic mall in Washington, D.C., I could not help but to feel the presence of the beloved seven with us on both August 24 and October 16th. How proud they must be of their fraternity to have accomplished this Herculean feat. I'd like to think that they were all seated at a heavenly table with Brother Martin Luther King at the table of brotherhood as well peering over us and holding off Hurricane Irene long enough for Alpha to dedicate the memorial.

As a part of my spiritual development in Alpha, I have begun to touch the final resting places of our seven Jewels and now our 24 deceased general presidents, the men who have been charged to carry out the ideas of the 7. Each visit has been solemn, somber and reaffirming. Most recently, we rededicated a brand new marker for Mrs. Annie Singleton, the beloved mother of Alpha and are doing a checklist of other persons important to our founding in the early years to ensure that their final resting place is representative of the role they played in helping Alpha to take shape.

I encourage you on this Founders' Day to reconnect to the spirit and soul of Alpha Phi Alpha in your own unique way. May I suggest that you reread the first three chapters of the History of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Seek out and find our senior brothers and arrange a visit to them in the spirit of the Brother's Keeper program. You will find that they will have a lot to share with you about their years in Alpha and I know, just like I have been, you will be inspired. Make sure that you take your camera and capture it and post it on Facebook or Twitter. Touch the hem of their garments. Flip through photos of "when you were searching for the light" and think about the memories, the oath that you took and reflect on what kind of Alpha you are. It's always easy to criticize others, but do your own self Alphaexamination in the spirit of "esprite de fraternite." Go to the Alpha shop and order the book of quotes from the Seven Jewels, the past general presidents or the Talented Tenth. Or if you are into chasing graves as I do, visit and pay respect to the giants of Alpha in your communities and towns. Call your line brothers and reconnect.

I am convinced that you only get out of this fraternity what you put into it.

As I travel to Tuskegee, St. Louis, Jefferson City and Charleston for Founders' Day celebrations, I take a deep abiding love for God and the seven Jewels with me. Most important, Founders' Day is a time to say thank you to our beloved Jewels.

Fraternally,

Herman "Skip" Mason, Jr.
General President

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[cwpaul]

Three days bruhs until one of the greatest days in American history.......Remember the Seven!