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KC Hosts Alpha Phi Alpha National Convention

Darryl Matthews, General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
Darryl Matthews, General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-733361.mp3

Kansas City, MO – Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity is in the middle of its 102nd Anniversary Convention in Kansas City this week. That's why men throughout downtown are wearing the Alpha colors - black and gold. Black fraternities date back to racially segregated times when being a black college student was a rarity. Since then, African American students and alumnae have turned to black Greek organizations to help meet their social, academic and public service needs.

Alpha Phi Alpha started its first chapter at Cornell University in 1906, it's the oldest African American Greek-letter fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha now has 20,000 members worldwide; the late Dr Martin Luther King and Princeton professor Cornel West are among the more prominent members. KCUR's Susan Wilson stopped by the convention to talk to Kansas City native Darryl Matthews, who is Alpha Phi Alpha's current general President. But first, she spoke to a few members of the fraternity.

This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
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