A Letter to Letters

Dear Greek Life,

You are the reason I learned the meaning that there is a thin line between love and hate. You taught me the meaning of perseverance and, because of you, I gave up on something that mattered for the first time in my life. You taught me how to ask for help from others and how to trust no one but the ones who give you a reason to. You took my money and you gave me siblings. You raised the prices over time and continued to take away the things that represent your organization. You reached deep into the pockets of your alumni members and threatened to remove your foundation, the college members. You gave us an avenue to do service but continually do a disservice to us by continually requiring chapters to pay more and more in dues, while simultaneously increasing intake fees. You teach less, charge more, and cause some members to appreciate less by continually making it easier to join.

True, pledging may be outlawed by all NPHC fraternities and sororities but that doesn't mean I can't pledge myself to giving my all to my letters even when it often asks me and my other Greek peers to sacrifice more than we can afford to.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen of Greekdom


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

I Want Some Ice Cream

"Money can't buy happiness but it's a damn good down payment." -- Fabolous

One day I want to know what it is like to live comfortably. I want to have all financial burdens removed and really enjoy my life. I'm not afraid to work to get there, but I want to go a nice period of my life in which my family and I are able to enjoy the fruits of my labor (and my wife's if she chooses to work after we get settled).

I want to be able to leave the state for a vacation with my wife and kids. I want to get the kids nice birthday gifts and throw them birthday parties. I want a good job that I enjoy but don't have to kill myself doing. I want to have great credit and enough money in savings that my kids won't have to worry about rushing through school so that they won't have to tack on an extra year of college loans. I want to take my wife on a date in a different state at least once a month and a different country twice a year.

I want all of this because I just don't see it as my reality. I have never stepped foot on foreign soil. My family hasn't vacationed together since I was in 6th or 7th grade. My mom was talking to me yesterday about picking up a second job for the holidays just so she could make ends meet when Christmas comes around. I refuse to do it. I can't be broke. I will work at McDonald's as a cashier before I am broke.

Yes, I put a lot of emphasis on money but if you never had ice cream but watched people smile as they ate it around you, you'd wonder what it tasted like. Same thing.

I have to be different. It's that simple. I want too much not to be.


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Going on 2 Years

I put an unprecedented amount of faith in my line because they always hold me down, whether or not it benefits them. I can go down the line and think of sacrifices each of them have made for me and vice versa. I don't care how much we may argue, call each other an idiot, wrestle, or anything of that nature, I know all 6 of them will always have my back. I know I can trust them to tell me when I'm wrong, but more importantly, when I am wrong, I can trust them to stand beside me. They could never do another thing for me in life and I would still be indebted to them forever. And this isn't a knock at any of my other friends because I love you all too, but no one outside of my blood and my wife will ever be closer to me than you all are. That's love.

D.E.A.R. WINtE.R.
Playboi Pi Zeta
Alpha Phi Alpha
Fall 2008

#1. Stevan Dozier ~ Aud-ACE-c.i.t.i.
#2. Brady Moore ~ Born Ident-TWO-ty
#3. Deryle Daniels ~ In-TRE-c.u.t. reBUTTall
#4. Myreon Sutton-Johnson ~ APE-TIME
#5. Alvin Francis ~ Lion-ID-us
#6. Cameron Ragland ~ SphInX
#7. Jeremy Herring ~ END-Avisible


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Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Only Two Questions

Tonight I realized something very important about myself; I go into every relationship, be it business, platonic, or romantic, with the understanding that I will be let down. Therefore, I look at a good relationship as one in which I am let down the least. One in which my idealistic view of what something should be is not obliviated by the reality that people are innately self-centered.

It is sometimes frustrating because, I still try to uphold my side of what I see as ideal but, after the novelty of a friendship wears off, most people fail to continue putting the same effort into what now seems mundane. It's comparable to school; each semester, everyone says they will do well. They have everything in order. They're going to each class. They're even taking copious notes. But, bit by bit, after checking the attendance sheet, you'll see a skip here and there. Halfway through the semester you are more likely to see them pushing a button on their phone than pushing a pen across their paper. Their well organized notebook has turned into a battleground cluttered with short-lived half-pages of notes, decorated with doodles.

I hate going through life knowing that this is how any friendship, relationship, and partnership will be, but it is all I have known thus far. I will be let down by everyone but me. There are only two questions: "When?" and "To what extent?"


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Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

The Lack Thereof

I often see freshmen and sophomores and I try to help guide them the right way, telling them how to dress in a professional setting or schooling them on how they should carry themselves when going into a business-oriented function, be it a dinner, meeting, social event, et cetra. And that is ok because these gentlemen (and sometimes ladies) are young and sometimes come from situations where they never had to learn to tie a tie or eat with the proper fork. Had I not taken it upon myself, I wouldn't have learned how to do those things.

But I have digressed; this post is about those who are seniors and juniors, know about proper etiquette and the resources available to them, and then choose to ignore them. I know I have a lot to learn but at the same time, I'm light years ahead of most people my age in terms of the professionalism I display. And being professional is not always about being the best dressed nor is it about always speaking the king's English. More importantly, it is about your mannerisms. Are you punctual? Are you clean and well-manicured? Can you put together a sentence that can convey what you mean to both the simplest person and to a Rhode Scholar? Do you read?

I don't feel like anyone should find total contentment where they are at any point in life. I want to grow in every avenue until the day God calls me to be with Him. Even though I am good at all of these, I want to become an excellent Christian, leader, mentor speaker, boyfriend (eventually husband and prayerfully father), reader, writer, scholar, athlete, friend, son, brother, and anything else I may do. And when I reach that level of excellence, I want to strive for perfection.

Too many people don't think like this and that is why I am going to be so successful... because I'm Goliath in a world of Kevin McCallisters.


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Up and Coming or Down and Going?

Watching the BET Awards and I have realized 2 things - 1) Rap is entertaining but whack; 2) there is a vacancy in real Hip Hop. There were quite a few good up and coming lyricists in the cypher section of the show but the majority of the mainstream rappers were garbage. The cyphers of Rev. Run and Ice Cube drew attention to this point. Their well-trained flows were evidence of where hip hop once was, as well as evidence against rap's pleas that hip hop is it's foundation. I don't really know what else to say. But be on the lookout b/c some of these new guys are beasts. I hope they step up to the plate... SOON!!!


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Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

th3 con10ual JOurneY

People say live with no regrets but I believe that having nothing you wish you had not done is unrealistic. There are situations I wish I hadn't been in, people I wish I'd developed a better relationship with. There are even thinking back to my choice of words at times, I wish I hadn't chosen them. I am not saying dwell on the past but that, if you have regrets, have them, learn from them, and let that be that. Too often we have regrets about decisions we make and then do the exact same thing. Where is the maturity in that?

Let today be the day that you begin thinking about your life critically. Everyone always says they want to be happy but I think joy is what we are often in search of. Joy, in my opinion,is a stronger, less conditional form of happiness. Joy is to happiness what love is to like. It isn't just something you find in an instance, but rather something you must work toward and pray for. I was happy when I was single. I am working toward having a joyful relationship with Des. I am happy when I get paid from my job. I will find joy when I am getting paid to do something that I am passionate about. I was happy when I crossed Alpha. Joy came when I death marched off of the fountain with my LBs. I am happy when I have a couple drinks and go out to the party. I find joy in reading the Word.

Is the difference clear?

From this point on, I am thinking critically about life. Sometimes you must let go of short term happiness in order to find joy. And, in that joy, if you realize that it is a continual journey and not a destination, you will find a greater happiness than you could have ever experienced in your state of ignorance.


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Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Just a Thought

Have you ever wondered if you're making the wrong decision for a second time around? You hope you're not but something in the back of your head keeps serving as a reminder. What if's are worse than any problem because with a real problem, at least you know. Maybe I'm just rambling. Hope so. Goodnight.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Thank Me Now

At this point, me is who I'm trying to save myself from. -- Drake

Living the fast life takes a toll. You don't know when to say no to others and yes to yourself. Took me a while to get to the point where I could do both regularly but I'm finally there.

I was definitely in the same boat as Drake for a while, "spending all of my time with the wrong women." I didn't know what I wanted to do but I knew it wasn't be locked down in a relationship. I wanted to be an eligible bachelor and enjoy my college days. It got old quickly. Then, somehow, this very different young lady caught my eye and there you have it.

Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Light Up

They always tell me nobody's working as hard as you and even though I laugh it off, man it's probably true... Don't get impatient when it takes too long. -- Drake

Even though I'm trying to enjoy my life, sometimes it feels like even trying to enjoy it is a job. Everyone says when they want to do work when they join a fraternity/sorority but a Greek organization is a corporation so you have to decide whether or not you're going to do the work of a CEO or that of the doorman. It is often exhausting to say the least but I must say that I wouldn't trade my letters for anyone else's.

One thing that I'm learning more and more is that just being smart isn't enough. Success is all about hard work and being there when the opportunity presents itself. I'm always there for the opportunity but for the first time in a while I feel that my work ethic, academically speaking, is matching up with my intelligence. Who would've thought I'd be caught in this life lesson?

I'd already written on Jay-Z's verse August 27 in the post titled "Triple Entendre" so I won't bore my regular readers.


Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Show Me A Good Time

I live for the night's I can't remember with the people that I won't forget. -- Drake

"I ain't tryin' to look like I lied to these n***as that I came up with." So many people believe that I'm going to make it on to the cover of Forbes that I feel like if I don't, I will have failed. So I live like I'm already there because I know I will get there, and if not there, pretty close.

Short and simple.

Litera scripta manet. - Unknown