How the Divine Nine is boosting Kamala Harris' campaign
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Then-Sen. Kamala Harris stands with attendees and participates in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. hymn at their Annual Pink Ice Gala in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 25, 2019. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris is getting a boost for her presidential run from members of "the Divine Nine" — prestigious Black fraternities and sororities that have shaped the Black middle class for more than 100 years.
Why it matters: Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and many of her sorority sisters see the prospect of her presidential election as a personal historic milestone — a once impossible thought by groups formed under the threat of violence a generation after enslavement
State of play: Almost the moment Harris announced she would seek the presidency, Divine Nine members sent emails, organized calls and started donating.
- Message boards, text chains and social networks exploded with excitement as ready Black volunteers got in position to aid an upstart campaign not seen since Barack Obama ran in 2008.
Officially, the groups can't endorse Harris. But members, who are overwhelmingly Democrats, are sending subtle messages they are behind a fellow sorority sister.
- "We, the Council of Presidents of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (Divine 9), have met and agreed to meet this critical moment in history with an unprecedented voter registration, education and mobilization coordinated campaign," the council said in a statement Monday.
- Without mentioning Harris, the council said it would "activate the thousands of chapters and members in our respective organizations to ensure strong voter turnout in the communities we serve."
- "That's all they need to say. The average member will understand the assignment and that is to get Kamala Harris elected now," Gregory Parks, co-author of "A Pledge With Purpose: Black Sororities and Fraternities and the Fight for Equality," tells Axios.
What is the Divine Nine?
It's the nickname given to member organizations of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which is the umbrella council composed of historically Black American fraternities and sororities.
- Most of the groups were founded by the children and grandchildren of formerly enslaved people, who went on to fight against lynching, push women's suffrage, and drive the Civil Rights Movement.
Zoom in: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., was the first Black Greek fraternity, founded in 1906 at Cornell University. One of its founders, Vertner Woodson Tandy, was the son of a formerly enslaved man.
- Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first Black sorority, founded in 1908 at Howard Univerity.
- Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. formed after and the council was formed in 1930.
- Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., which was formed in 1963, later joined the council in 1996, creating what is now the Divine Nine.
The Divine Nine's legacy
Zoom out: Over the years, the Divine Nine produced Black leaders who transformed the U.S. legal system, challenged segregation, reshaped local economies and health care and revamped education.
- Many members went on to grow Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), start businesses and build Black nonprofit groups nationwide.
- Members of Divine Nine organizations include civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. (Alpha Phi Alpha), Thurgood Marshall (Alpha Phi Alpha), John Lewis (Phi Beta Sigma) and Dorothy Height (Delta Sigma Theta).
Harris and the Divine Nine
Context: Harris joined Alpha Kappa Alpha as an undergraduate at Howard in 1986.
- Her membership came as Black Greek organizations were becoming more multicultural by accepting Asian American and Latino members.
- In each of her political races, Alpha Kappa Alpha and other members of the Divine Nine volunteered for her and helped convince others to support her.
Yes, but: Over the years, Divine Nine groups have faced criticism for moving away from their social justice past and focusing more on community service, Parks said.
- "But I think there's a deep racial consciousness to the groups," said Parks, a Wake Forest law professor and member of Alpha Phi Alpha.
- That consciousness reached a wider audience over that last decade with the deaths of Michael Brown and George Floyd and protests organized by younger members of Divine Nine organizations.
What we're watching: The mobilization of the Divine Nine could spark turnout in Democratic areas with historically low voter turnout and boost Harris in the election.
- It might help Democrats recapture the U.S. House and give the Divine Nine another milestone — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a Kappa Alpha Psi member, could become the first Divine Nine speaker of the House.
