Divine Nine love
If you’re on social media, you’ve no doubt seen your timeline light up with members of Black Greek organizations celebrating their founders. Every year, members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), celebrate Founders Day, the day when their respective fraternities and sororities were each originally chartered. This week, three of the four NPHC sororities celebrate their Founders Days: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. on Jan. 13, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. on Jan. 15, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Jan. 16, and two of the NPHC fraternities: Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. on Jan. 6 and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. on Jan. 9.
ReShonda Tate, Managing Editor
More often referred to as The Divine Nine, or D9, the first nine fraternities and sororities founded between 1906 and 1963 were the early foundations of establishing unity and scholarship through their communities. Founders Day is a day to look back over the history of brotherhood/sisterhood and service, and to celebrate the achievements of those organizations.
Though the words may be different depending on the fraternity or sorority, all were founded to provide an avenue of service and social enrichment for African-American students who were not allowed to join the segregated white Greek organizations. And for Black Greeks, the work continues long after college. Check out the full article on DefenderNetwork.com. Just wanted to explain why your timeline is about to be lit! And oh, yeah, count me among, those doing the most. Thirty-four years strong as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated!
Blacks are back at the Golden Globes
From a Black host (comedian Jerrod Carmichael) to Black winners who shined, this year’s Gold Globes was Blackity-Black. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hosts the awards show, had been under fire for its lack of diversity and inclusivity. But not this year.
Tyler James Williams won Best Supporting Actor in a TV series for Abbott Elementary; Quinta Brunson,won Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary; and naturally Abbott Elementary won Best Musical/Comedy Series (if you haven’t seen this show, you’re missing out!). Angela Bassett won Best Supporting Actress in a motion picture for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The win cemented Bassett’s spot in history as the first actor to win a Globe for a Marvel film. Zendaya won Best Television Actress-Drama Series for Euphoria. And Eddie Murphy took home the prestigious Cecille B. deMille Award, which is given to artists who have made “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.”
In addition to all the Black winners, heavyweight stars from Viola Davis to Ryan Coogler to Letitia Wright, to RIHANNA and A$AP Rocky, and more were all in attendance.
Who wants to be a billionaire?
The Mega Millions jackpot has reached an estimated $1.35 billion – the second-largest in the lottery’s history – after no winner snagged the big prize in the Jan. 10 drawing. Needless to say, that means a lot of folks will be looking to become the country’s newest billionaire.
But huge prizes come with tiny odds. A player who buys a single ticket for the Mega Millions only has a 1 in 302,575,350 chance of winning the jackpot. Lottery is a game of chance and probability, so the best way to increase your odds of winning, assuming you’re getting random numbers, is to buy more tickets. If you have a 1 in 300 million chance of winning, buying a second ticket doubles your odds to 2 in 300 million, another to 3 in 300 million, and so on.
Of course, while you’re improving your odds, your chances of taking home a billion dollars are still infinitesimal. In order to improve your odds in a really substantial way, you’d have to spend a huge amount of money. Even if you spent a million dollars buying $2 Mega Millions tickets, the odds would still be overwhelmingly against you.
So play your lucky number, play an uncommon number, play your birth date, whatever. Buy one ticket or buy twenty. It doesn’t really matter
The drawing for the $1.35 billion prize, roughly $707.9 million in cash, is scheduled for Jan. 13. Realistically, you have a better chance of being crushed by a meteorite, killed by bees or becoming U.S. President. But hey, if Trump could do the latter, I’m gonna believe I can win, so let me go get my ticket!
