Members of the Wall Street Alphas and the Beta Chapter Alumni Association (BCAA) will host a special tribute to former New York City Mayor David Dinkins Saturday, November 23, 2013 at the Red Rooster Harlem.
The event-entitled “An Alpha Man from Gotham” - will bring together members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. across several generations to honor the legacy of Dinkins, an Alpha who pledged and joined the organization’s Beta Chapter during his college years at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
“We are looking forward to paying homage to Brother Dinkins’ historic living legacy, gaining insight into his upbringing, college life and his dignified public service career; as well as listening to his advice for the next generation of leaders,” said Sean C. Gayle, president of the Wall Street Alphas,
www.wallstreetalphas.com , and a member of the BCAA.
Several high-profile members of the organization are confirmed to attend including: Congressmen Charles B. Rangel, Greg Meeks, Chaka Fattah; National Urban League President Marc Morial, journalist and social advocate Kevin Powell, ESPN sportscaster Stan Verrett, Ambassador and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and Alpha Phi Alpha General President Mark Tillman.
In May, several members of the fraternity met with Dinkins following graduation ceremonies at Columbia University, where he is a professor in the School of International and Public Affairs. After spending some time with the venerable former New York City mayor, the idea of having a tribute - to allow many other fraternity members to meet and relish in the myriad of stories Dinkins shared that day –was born.
“We’re really excited as this event has been promoted across fraternity social networks on Facebook, Twitter and email around the country,” said BCAA President Theodore P. Cummings, a patent attorney from Cincinnati, who will also be attending. “We’re most excited about how a diverse group of men have coalesced and are working together to produce a historic event to honor a great man.”
The event will be held at the famous Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem which is owned by world famous chef Marcus Samuelsson and Derek Fleming, who is also a member of the fraternity.
A promotional CD of music from famous Alphas –including Lionel Ritchie, Gerald Albright, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Marcus Johnson, and Shai – was produced by Alpha and original Shai member Darnell Van Rensalier, another Beta Chapter initiate and a native of Paterson, N.J.
Videography is being done by Sun Chase Media, owned by John Ledbetter from Virginia and music will be performed by New York City jazz vocalist Cornelius Bates. Event logos and collateral materials were produced by Ramon Peralta, of Connecticut’s Peralta Design and Paul Woodruff, owner of Washington D.C.’s Artisan Blue with Darrius Gourdine, an East Orange, N.J. native, who will be making a special fraternal history presentation.
While the 86-year-old mayor was recently hospitalized with mild pneumonia, “we’ve recently spoken to his assistant and we’re told he’s very excited about the fellowship and tribute we’ve planned for him,” said event producer Alonza Robertson.
“An Alpha Man from Gotham” is open to members of the fraternity only, but autographed copies of Dinkins’ new book A Mayor’s Life and the Soul of Alpha CD are available for purchase at the website
http://www.alphamanfromgotham.com/. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has continued to supply voice and vision to the struggle of African Americans and people of color around the world. The Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African-American community's fight for civil rights, through Alpha men such as Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, Retired Senator Edward Brooke and Cornel West. Others include members of the 111th Congress including: Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO), Charles B. Rangel (NY), Danny K. Davis (IL), Chaka Fattah (PA), Al Green (TX), Gregory Meeks (NY), David Scott (GA), Robert C. Scott (VA). The fraternity through its college and alumni chapters serves the community through nearly a thousand chapters in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. For more information visit
www.apa1906.net.
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Friday, November 8th 2013 at 5:43PM
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