Last spring, I wrote a post about going home…for my 50th High School Reunion. Naturally, as the subject of the piece, it was a departure from my usual, at least partially researched content. This post, in some ways, is a next level version of last year’s blog.
It’s not the same, not an extension, and not a different version. Next level.
Last October, my six surviving Line Brothers (LB’s) and I committed to spend a year preparing for our Golden Anniversary Celebration Banquet. We had been motivated by attending the 50th Anniversary Banquet of our Prophytes, the men who pledged us into Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. At Fayetteville State’s 2022 Homecoming, a couple of my LB’s attended, and took in every single detail of The Tenacious 22’s Celebration.
We absorbed every detail of the evening, from the décor to the program, to the meal, to the video PowerPoint, and event/post event photographs. Twenty-two holds a particular significance. There were twenty-two members of the Line that went over before my Line, and that subsequently pledged us. Watching the surviving Brothers from that Line engage and interact with each other; engaging and interacting with them ourselves, reminded us of the incredible power of bringing together in a small room, a circle of nearly 20 college-educated Black men who’ve know each other for more than five decades. It was a moment that happens too seldom, outside of funerals. Yet here we were at our alma mater, actively celebrating life, with gusto, instead of passively viewing a celebration of life, at our favorite House of Worship. Two completely different kinds of celebrations.
But enough about the Tenacious 22. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the Truckin’ 11. Our line name was inspired by Eddie Kendrick’s 1973 hit song, Keep On Truckin’, and the eleven men who bonded during our journey into Alphadom.
The week after Fayetteville State’s 2022 Homecoming (GO BRONCOS), I called the five (of six) Line Brothers, for whom I had numbers. I told (not asked) them that we were going to plan and execute our own 50th Anniversary Banquet. The catch was, we were going to take a full year to plan and execute it. That was the beginning of our full-fledged reunion. Along the way, we picked up the 6th Brother when 3 of us visited him. Finally, in the week before the event, we made a firm connection with the 7th and final surviving member of our Line. We were set.
We met every month. Zoom was our avenue of engagement. We saw each other more in the past 12 months, than in the last 50 years. However, of the seven of us, only five attended the meetings. It took 11 months to finally lay eyes on the sixth member, and we literally did not see the seventh member until the evening of our Golden Anniversary Celebration Banquet.
The Journey. In the process of preparing for the event that took 50 years to unfold, 5 of our Line members worked together nearly as intensely as we did when we pledged. There were moments of unbridled joy, and spirited revelry, but also instances of high tension, and flat-out disagreement. As I noted in the closing notes of the Program Booklet, our experience reminded us of everything that frustrated us about each other, but also reintroduced us to all the traits and characteristics that endeared us to each other and made us Brothers for Life. Fifty years later, we are well on our way; Alpha Always. So, on October 20, 2023, in a room filled with 50 people, and I do mean filled…with family, our closest friends, and our Fraternity Brothers, the Truckin’ 11 immersed ourselves in the memories, in the camaraderie, and in the Esprit de Fraternite that is endemic to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., in general, and to the 315th House in particular. On this night of mirth, merriment, and conviviality, we also reveled in the reunification of our brotherhood. We invoked the blessings of an all-wise God, we prepared a paraphernalia and keepsake display, we took lots of photos to memorialize the occasion, we presented a PowerPoint photo loop of our Fraternal memories, we shared personal stories, we heard poetic recitation, we dined on a sumptuous meal, we conducted a Memorial for our Dearly Departed Brothers, we shared gifts with our Brothers and with our guests, we sang our beloved and most solemn Fraternal Hymn, we prayed our Fraternal Prayer, we extended God’s benediction on the assembly. But there was more.
The week following the celebration, we convened another Zoom Meeting. In that meeting, we undertook a debriefing of the preparation, and of our event. But more importantly, we talked about the future. October 20, 2023, was the first time some of us had seen each other in 50 years. We committed to act with intentionality to ensure that we take measures to ensure that we get together, virtually, and in-person, starting with a Zoom Meeting next month. It’s a start. It's a not-so-subtle reminder that we let a lot of time slip away over the past 50 years. We will do better. Living Our Lives Like They’re Golden: Half a Century on da Phi!
I’m done; holla back!
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http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2023/11/living-our-lives-like-theyre-golden.html
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