The Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. has a very important event coming up on May 27, 2021, starting at 7:00 p.m. The best news is, you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home to be a participant. They’re taking on two heavy subjects in one program, mental health, and gun violence.
The leader (Polemarch) of the graduate chapter, Damien S. Jackson, Esq. explained the purpose for the May 27th virtual event. “The problem with violence has gotten out of hand. We were trying to brainstorm and think of what would be a good program that we could bring to the community and get the conversation moving forward, and not only have a conversation but get some real solutions. That’s how we came up with the idea of the panel discussion. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is one of our panelists, and the Philadelphia Police Commissioner is a panelist. Bilal Qayyum, Founder of the Father’s Day Committee, longtime community activists will also participate, along with Anthony Luker, from the PA Office of Attorney General and Samson Styles noted filmmaker. Michael Coard, Esq. Founder of Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, WURD radio talk show host, and Philadelphia Tribune Columnist, will be the moderator for the program. A proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity himself, he won the Kappa achievement award a few years back. We knew Mike would be the best possible person to be the moderator because he’s familiar with all the players that will be on the panel, and he’s not afraid to ask hard-hitting questions. Those synergies should be able to come up with some real solutions.”
Jackson shared that the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter did not sit still throughout the pandemic. “We continued to run our mentoring program over the last 16 months since the pandemic started. We still hosted our annual college tour program. For the youth that we mentor, basically, we have a program that runs side by side with that, for their parents. All those things continued to happen from March 2020 – now, albeit virtually. We’re trying our best to do all relevant things. We understand that college may not be for everybody. So we are sharing with teens what their other options are. We’re introducing them to trade schools, trade unions, and those types of things. Being an entrepreneur is another discussion we have with our youth. We want all our young people to know that they do have options after high school. The world doesn’t end with just Germantown or North Philadelphia or wherever they live. There’s a whole wide world out there available for them.
The Mental Health and Gun Violence seminar will unfold during “Kappa Week” in Philadelphia. There will be an entire week of activities. Not only will they be high- lighting Kappa Brothers that are doing outstanding work in the community.
Dr. Faruq Iman is a doctor of trauma. He’s going to dig deep into the subject of mental health and how mental health trauma not only affects the individual but a lot of times, is generational in nature, according to Polemarch Jackson. ”So, although maybe you don’t understand mental health or have the full grasp of what you’re dealing with, mental health illness can sometimes be passed down from Grandmom to Mom to you. Just because of all the things we’ve had to deal with as a people. Those things have been passed down. I don’t know the science or the genetics behind it, but those are the kinds of things that people need to be made aware of. We need to be able to remove the stigma of “Oh you’re going to talk to a psychologist” as if that’s a bad thing. Or “Oh, you have a mental health issue.” We as a community have to stop looking at people who have mental health challenges and label them as “crazy.”
On the night of the forum, although it officially starts at 7:00 p.m. Polemarch Jackson says if you log on about fifteen minutes early, you can submit questions you may have for the panelists. The program will also be available to the public on the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Facebook page. To RSVP and put your questions in, in advance, log on at www.KappaWeek.PhillyKappas.org
The Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity has consistently served the community of Philadelphia for almost 100 years. They support the Fraternity’s National Signature Initiatives. The theme as they enter their 100th Anniversary year is “Embrace our past, Celebrate the Present and Look to the Future – 100 years of Achievement.”
Final words: Congratulations to each and every voter in PA that made it your business to participate in the voting process for the May 18, 2021, Primary Election. Whether you voted by mail or came to a polling place on election day, you did the right thing, and I congratulate you. I‘m saying thank you for voting if nobody else does!
Congratulations! To all the candidates who won their races on May 18th. Please serve the people of the Commonwealth of PA well. To the candidates that didn’t win on May 18th, I also consider you as winners because you got out there and you ran the race. If you believe you can truly be a good elected official and make a positive difference in PA or in Philadelphia, don’t give up. Rest for a week or so. Then dust yourself off and get back on the campaign horse. One of the secrets to winning, after you’ve lost a campaign, is to get right back out there in the race and don’t wait until the next election. Start ASAP. We’re coming out of the pandemic. The Governor has relaxed almost all the pandemic restrictions we had. What better time than now to start getting out and about in communities, meeting people, getting more known. That’s how you win (plus raising money). Keep trying. Get back on that horse and ride hard.
