The Root‘s contributing editor, Helena Andrews, wrote a humorous yet touching account of her experience midnight of Jan. 13, 2013: Delta Sigma Theta’s celebration of 100 years of collective strength to promote academic excellence and to provide assistance to under-served communities. Check out her story, and if you’re a Delta woman, share your own by commenting.
(The Root) — I wasn’t entirely sure it would be worth all the fuss. It was a half hour before midnight on Sunday, and a surprise fog had dimmed the neighborhood’s streetlights to spooky. Recovering on the couch after a hard day of being out seemed like the smart thing to do. Did we really still want to go?
The resounding answer from the women reminiscing on the couch next to me was “Girl, yes.” Yes, we were still going to walk to Howard University’s campus to fellowship with the other women in the city celebrating Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.‘s 100th-year anniversary when the clock struck midnight.
“And what exactly are sorors going to actually be doing out there?” I asked, feeling like a Scrooge on New Year’s Eve complaining about the touristy mobs down in Times Square.
“Singing songs, I think? Who cares! It’s our centennial!”
So I rooted through my closet for something red and weather-appropriate, finding a multicolored scarf with a hint of crimson and a fire-engine red sweater from a few Christmases ago that was too small. But it felt good putting that color on for a reason again. I was getting my second wind despite still being skeptical about how thousands of grown women were going to handle standing around without anything concrete to do besides smile at one another.
I can’t remember not wanting to be a Delta. My mother wasn’t one, and neither was my grandmother or my great-grandmother. But to me, pledging a sorority, like graduating from college and barreling through a career with a capital C, simply seemed like a given. And after doing my research, I decided that Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was the only option. I showed up at my initial interview in an emerald-green skirt suit paired with a deep-fuchsia silk shirt — pink and green — and somehow made the cut. Delta would always be that forgiving.
In the almost 13 years since, the sorority has been like an invisible escalator in my life. I’ve stumbled, I’ve raced up the steps two by two and I’ve leaned against the railing for a rest, while Delta keeps moving forward and gathering speed.
We talk often about our illustrious history and our accomplishments as an organization dedicated to public service, but for me what we do and have done is secondary to what we are: a sisterhood. Bringing strangers together and turning them into sisters — not co-workers or even teammates — is no easy task, and yet I consider the women I made vows with more than a decade ago my family, not just really good friends.
Finish reading Helena Andrews’s entire piece at The Root.
