SPECIAL REPORT
W
hy Alpha in Haiti? Why not just send our contributions to some of the worthwhile organizations like CARE, Red Cross, USAID? Why? Because there is a line in a poem “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” by Brother Freeman Montague Jr., that I often quote: “there is nothing in this whole wide world, we wouldn’t do for one another.” As the general president of Alpha Phi Alpha and a 28-year member, I have always known that we had brothers who were of Haitian descent. When it was learned many years ago that my wife’s family was from Haiti, I began to see and meet even more Alpha brothers from Haiti.
Why? Why not? By Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr.
the affairs of the nation.”
—Jewel Vertner Woodson Tandy, December 1937
The earthquake that occurred on January 12 impacted me and my family directly, as my mother-in-law was visiting her home country at the time of the quake. Our lives changed instantly. Though a few days later, we learned that she was fine, I could not help but to think about the families of all our brothers who had families there who were not fine. I sent an e-mail to Brother Lucien Mettelus in New York, whose family is from Haiti asking him to help me compile a list of names and e-mail addresses of Alpha brothers that he knew who hailed from Haiti. Within hours, I had a list, and I knew Winter/Spring 2010 H THE SPHINX
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