“The most illustrious Big Brother Elder Watson Diggs, affectionately known as The Dreamer,”
And nine of his fellow
shippers: Dr. Ezra D. Alexander, Dr. Byron K. Armstrong, Attorney Henry T.
Asher, Dr. Marcus P. Blakemore, Mr. Paul W. Caine, Mr. George W. Edmonds, Dr.
Guy L. Grant, Mr. Edward G. Ervin, Mr. John Milton Lee,
Became brothers,
January 5, 1911,
Under circumstances that
would wither others,
In a world filled with
rage and violence against them,
The embodiment of William
Ernst Henley’s “Invictus,”
Ten young, ambitious
college men,
Who prayed for and
supported one another,
When having challenges,
sicknesses, and loss of loved ones,
Years after Thomas Dixon
debuted “The Clansman:
“A Historical Romance of
the Ku Klux Klan,”
The basis of the racist
film “Birth of a Nation.”
Which President Woodrow
Wilson promoted in the executive residence,
Exclaiming it was
“history written with lightning,”
Elder Diggs lost his
wife, Clara Bell-Smith, his beloved Silhouette,
Who he married in secret,
Because she, like he, was
a teacher, and married women in 1912 weren’t permitted to teach,
Silhouette Clara fell
seriously ill and succumbed in 1913. *
Elder Diggs had his
brother John Lee to shore him up,
To whom he poured his
grieving heart,
This insight during grief
gave enlightenment,
To the importance of
brotherhood and fellowship,
The fundamental purpose
of our existence is Achievement,
And that high ideal from
Indiana spread like a virus,
Over the universities and
colleges,
The U.S. continent,
And the PLANET,
To likeminded young men
over generations since,
We encourage one another
when times are rough,
We support each other
when the fight gets tough,
We bear one another’s
griefs and shore up each other’s sorrows,
Many of our brothers were affected by this pestilence,
Many sadly crossed over
to that Golden Shore into Paradise,
From those ten young men, we expanded exponentially,
We have a worldwide
network of brothers to shore us up,
During the dark winter of this pandemic,
We have all weathered
circumstances that would wither others,
Just being men in the United States of America,
Because of a pledge we
all swore to,
Forged by ten mighty men, our Founding Fathers,
That knitted us, forever
as brothers,
In the BOND, we are
stronger together.
Yours in the Bond. 👌🏾♦️👌🏾
Note: I crossed the
Burning Sands: May 14, 1987, Austin Alumni Chapter.
My DP’s:
Robert I. Mayes, Jr., Guy
L. Grant Award Recipient, Zeta Omega Chapter, Chapter Invisible.
Reverend Dwayne K. Jones, Masters of Theology/Religion, Masters of Counseling, Paraclete Ministries Pastor/Founder, Giddings Corrections Chaplain, Gamma Lambda Chapter.
*Sourced from “The Story
of Kappa Alpha Psi: A History of the Beginning of a Greek Letter Organization,
1911 - 1983,” Third Edition, page 14, “Grim Interlude for Diggs.”
Third Edition Editor:
William L. Crump, Ph.D. Dean, College of Business and Public Management,
University of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.
Respectfully submitted,
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