An Open Letter to the Divine Nine

*******************THIS IS NOT A DENOUNCEMENT LETTER******************

For over a century (and a little over 60 years in the case of the Iota Phi Theta) the fraternities and sororities of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), more affectionately known as the Divine 9, have framed themselves as leaders among the black community. With numerous examples of fulfilling the needs of others such as providing community service, creating scholarships, bolstering black businesses, even building educational institutions, it’s understandable that members of the Divine 9 hold our organizations in such high regard. As a member of Omega Psi Phi, going on seven years, I’ve had first hand experience with the community involvement to which my fraternity has participated. Work is being done. 

However, when it comes to utilizing political power on behalf of the negro masses we (should) hold ourselves accountable to, it becomes very apparent that serving and strengthening the black community is a secondary priority to these organizations. The number one priority appears to be maintaining proximity to power by appealing to, and downright participating in, the imperialist desires of the bourgeois class. 

Though this has been apparent well before Vice-President Kamala Harris’ coronation as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, the automatic and almost hive minded support to her candidacy from thousands of members of the Divine 9 including all of the NPHC org presidents completely exposed the depthless nature of the black community’s de facto leaders and their inability to do right by the black proletariat. 

The Divine 9 has collectively decided to ignore Harris’ history as a prosecutor and Attorney General, which include: heavily pursuing truancy cases, holding prisoners past their sentences, and not prosecuting one of the largest fraudsters in California that foreclosed thousands of senior citizens’ properties, as well as continued redlining practices into 2017. However, the Vice-President’s recent record under the current administration has also not been deserving of support from black Americans, and by extension other marginalized groups, we claim to do our service for. 

Apart from backing the President’s disastrous foreign policy, an element of the government the Executive branch has practically sole control over, Harris’ main solo project as Vice-President was border management. This management includes the continuation of the rightfully maligned Trumpian policy of separating families and detaining migrant children in subpar detention centers, better known as “kids in cages”. Cages built by former President Barack Obama. 

As for her foreign policy, Harris has pushed, alongside the President, the use of a “multiracial force” from subservient African nations to invade Haiti on the false premise of securing the nation for the Haitian people, which Kenya is prepared to do. She is also, to no one’s surprise, completely aligned with President Biden and fully supports Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians. 

The Biden Administration (which includes Harris) has made it clear they would not inact an arms embargo against a globally recognized terrorist state, which is a violation of the Leahy Law that prohibits the provision of arms to any nation committing human rights violations. Along with this criminal policy, Harris continues to spread the debunked, racist, anti-Muslim lie of systematic, tactical rape committed by Hamas on October 7th while blatantly ignoring the legitimate and substantiated cases of rape committed by the Israeli Occupying Forces against Palestinian prisoners. These lies have been used to justify the decimation of an occupied people, not unlike that anti-black fear mongering propagated by the Ku Klux Klan that galvanized the acts of evil committed against our people since “Birth of a Nation.” 

Going hand-in-hand with her support of the colonial settler state of Israel, is her lack of conviction regarding police brutality, offering platitudes of supporting a bill that neither party in the Senate cares to pass and would not have even protected the man it’s named after from being brutalized or murdered by the police. And as she provides lip service to our policing plight, not only have Democrat-ran cities throughout the United States began planning and developing multi-million dollar tactical law enforcement training facilities (cop cities) but Harris, herself, continues, and promises to continue, arming and funding the very Israeli soldiers that train with our local occupiers, state law enforcement. 

Though she does not have complete control over the domestic direction the country goes (NOTE: Influence from the Executive Branch to the Legislative Branch does have a historical precedence with Lyndon B. Johnson and shouldn’t be downplayed), the fact the agenda she would have the constitutional right to control is so hawkish and destructive her endorsement list includes characters such as Dick Cheney, former Ronald Reagan staffers, and 200+ former Republican administration staffers, makes Vice-President Kamala Harris beyond unworthy of her unearned mantle as a saving grace for the country. Let alone a leader for the people, especially black people. 

Our revolutionaries and black academics of yesteryear were no allies to imperialism, they were no allies to war, they were no allies to our continued internal colonization. Their martyrdom has been exploited and made a mockery by the black bourgeoisie, including the Vice-President. And we as the Divine 9 must own our part in the perpetuation of that exploitation and reject such a blatant use of our image, culture, and history to continue the western hegemonic goal of obtaining the resources and wealth of black and brown countries for the benefit of this country’s 1%. 

How on Earth could we consider ourselves stewards of the black community and allies to the marginalized when the sycophantic support we’ve displayed toward not only Kamala Harris, but the half-century colonial project that is American Imperialism, shows an obscene amount of value placed on our proximity to white elitism as opposed to the well-being of our people? We know the horrors and destabilizing nature of colonialism, especially if we were blessed enough to attend a Historical Black College/ University (HBCU). Yet we are, as a whole, boasting about our collective decision to support a candidate that intends to continue facilitating a GENOCIDE of INDIGENOUS PEOPLE being conducted by occupiers who TRAIN OUR POLICE for the purpose of a WHITE SUPREMACIST AGENDA!

I implore our leaders and members who value life and justice to adopt the attitudes of our 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s Civil Rights leaders and stand against the imperialist and fascist desires of our political system regardless of who the face of said system is. We must electorally use our voice and vote against the fascist, corporate duopoly that continuously betrays the working class. We must organize and implement true survival programs as a show of our political will and ability to cater to those most vulnerable in our country. This is not just for the sake of ourselves, but for those who relentlessly suffer under the heel of our capitalist society. All the service we do is moot if we keep supporting the arbiters of evil that make our services necessary in the first place. We must do better!

Signed with Love,

K.D. Lewis

Founder of the Chronicles for Black Political Power 

Founder of the Freedom Feeders Cooperative Corp.

FAMU Alumnus

RQQ!