Alexanders, The Greats

"I was in my senior year of college on my 17th day when I got my draft notice." -- Harvey Alexander

Last night I had the opportunity of a lifetime (I tend to have a lot of those. God must be planning great things for me). And the best part is, it was unintentional.

This past week was my first week working at Target. I love it but I missed Desireè so we decided that I would come visit her this weekend. Friday evening after work, I went to the Amtrak station to catch a train to Charlotte, only to find that the train that was scheduled to leave at 6:30 PM had been pushed back to 8:20 PM. So I went home, got out of my work clothes, hopped in the shower, and threw on some relaxed jeans, my Manhattan Metro Map tee, and my Mets fitted baseball cap. Me dressing like that is a rarity but who cares? No one will be at the train station, right? Wrong.

As I am sitting on the bench at the depot, I see an elderly couple come in. They are both fair-skinned but visibly African-American. I smile as usual but look back down at my iPod so as not to draw any extra attention to myself or my less than impressive appearance*. But, for some reason, after about 5 minutes, the gentleman stood up and came to greet me. He asked "Have you ever heard of the Tuskegee Airmen?" I wanted to say "Yes! That's one of my favorite movies. I used to watch it all the time. My parents still have my copy of it back in Durham. I even have a Tuskegee Airmen tee shirt at my apartment," but I kept it simple and just said "Yes sir, I have." He said, "Well I am one of them," and handed me a business card with his name, rank in the army, and a picture of him in his uniform. I lie to you not, my eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. For those of you who don't know, I have a degree in Af.-Am. Studies and my appreciation for the material goes much deeper than just my college experience. I have been a Black History enthusiast since I could read so I was going to milk this opportunity for all I could.

I moved to the side of the bench that Mr. Harvey Alexander and his wife were sitting on and we began talking. He told me stories about his days in college and WWII and the depression and his battles with segregation in the United States Air Force as well as those he had as a private citizen. Every so often Mrs. Alexander would chime in with details.

They both started school at Fisk. That started a whole new conversation because my mentor and role model, the late world-renowned historian Brother Dr. John Hope Franklin, is a Fisk Graduate. I asked the Alexanders if they knew him and Mrs. Alexander said that Dr. Franklin was a close friend of her family's and had stayed with them on numerous occasions. He was like her older brother during his college years. I then began to rattle off names of well-known persons who were around the Alexander's age that I had personal relationships with and they knew almost everyone I mentioned. Mrs. Alexander kept saying "It's such a small world."

Mrs. Alexander then asked for my story and I gave her a brief biography. She asked how UNCG had treated me and I told her I enjoyed it and that I had had a number of leadership roles on the campus and I mentioned that I had been president of my fraternity. Mr. Alexander asked, "What fraternity is that?" I responded, "Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated." He said, "The only fraternity." Once again, my eyes lit up. "You're an Alpha?" The whole time we talked, I knew that, if this man was Greek, he had to be an Alpha but I am not one to challenge gentlemen who are so much older than me because, after a certain age you get forgetful and I would hate to disrespect an old brother.

He had "gone over" at Fisk in 1941. I was asking him how he felt about the nuances of today and he told me that the masks and the line names were non-existent but that he has no problem with the changes as long as we are still serving and leading in the right way.

I was showing Bro. and Mrs. Alexander pictures of my probate on my iPod and scrolled across one of Desireè and me. Mrs. Alexander said we looked nice and somehow it came up that Desireè is a Delta. "He just keeps getting it right Harvey." "You're a Delta? My mom is a Delta as well." "Well you've got a good mother and a good girlfriend." They are one year apart from one another in age (like Desireè and I are). Mrs. Alexander said "Having so much in common with young people is refreshing."

We then began discussing my career plans and their daughter, who was also waiting with them at the train station, said she wants to see me on the cover of Black Enterprise one day. I said, "I want to see that too."

Soon after, the train came. I can honestly say though, for once, Amtrak's mistake was to my benefit. Maybe in 70 years, I will be talking to a young brother like myself, giving him words of encouragement with a strong, smart, beautiful lady beside me, helping remember the things that have slipped my mind.






*One thing I hate more than anything is looking like a young man who isn't going anywhere in front of elderly people, black or white. It reinforces the preconceived notion that many of those in our generation are going to fail. Litera scripta manet. - Unknown