"I'm a very inactive member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. These universal symbols can be seen as exclusive outward expressions of pride and of strong organizational identification." Although it is not clear how calls and hand signs evolved, these traditions are long standing. According to Kimbrough (2003), pictures from college campuses of Black fraternities and sororities indicate that hand signs became a part of the Black fraternal experience during the 1970’s. Much like calls, the exact origin of hand signs cannot be pinpointed. It is not clear when calls were first used, however, it seems possible that calls used by NPHC organizations became prevalent during the mid-1970’s. Additionally, these audible sounds, also known as cries and arhoolies, could he heard being sung by slaves. These sounds were a form of yodeling known as whooping in the Congo and Angola tribes. According to Kimbrough (2003), the concept of calls is embedded in both African and African-American tradition. "Hand signs and calls have evolved into another historical facet of Black fraternal organization life. This is an excerpt from the pancocojams post on BGLO calls whose link is given above:įrom NPHC National Membership Intake Guide: A Statement About Calls & Hand Signs By National Pan-Hellenic Council These quotes are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only. QUOTES ABOUT HISTORICALLY BLACK GREEK LETTERED FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES HAND SIGNS For the folkloric record, in this post's comment section, I've quoted a small portion of that article as well as several comments.Īlthough I've not quoted any of the comments in that linked six page blog post, some commenters in that discussion noted that hand signs are not only the norm among historically Black Greek lettered organizations, but are also the norm among Latino/a, Asian, and multi-cultural university based Greek lettered organizations. Most of the published comments with that article were critical of that decision. The 2015 article announced a ban on the publication on social media of photographs for members of Kappa Kappa Gamma if those photographs included hand signs. The comment section below includes links to two blog posts/articles about the use of hand signs among PWI (predominately White Institutions). The link for Part II (videos of BGLO roll calls) is included in that post. This post serves as a companion to a two part pancocojams series on historically Black Greek lettered organizations calls. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. Thanks to all those who are featured in this post and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, and cultural purposes. This post also includes information about BGLO calls because of the close connection between historically Black Greek lettered organizations' calls and hand signs. This pancocojams post provides quotes about hand signs (gestures) that are used by members of historically Black Greek lettered organizations (BGLOs) and showcases BGLO videos that include hand signs.
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