There is no doubt that the Divine Nine is helping shape the 2024 election.
The Divine Nine, which comprises nine Black fraternities and sororities, has been shaping civil rights since its inception. With civil liberties at stake in the presidential race that pits Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority member Kamala Harris against former President Donald Trump, the Divine Nine is once again doing all it can to help people make the most educated choice.
Harris, who pledged and was initiated in 1986 at Howard University, is one of the 2.5 million members of the Divine Nine.
CNN recently sat down with a group of Divine Nine members.
“2.5 million strong. Now look how we can reach out to our family, our friends, our churches,” said Arlean Leland, a Harris supporter, referring to the number of members that make up the Divine Nine.
Jocelyn Route, another Harris supporter, said the Divine Nine has been pillars of the Black community for generations.
“…We have them working for the sub-populations, and they trust us,” Route said.
And Harris is using her leverage thanks to being a member of the Divine Nine. Over the summer, she spoke to three Divine Nine organizations at the Alpha Kappa Alpha convention.
“At church on Sunday, we’re going downstairs to the fellowship hall and we’re registering people that aren’t voting. Those seniors that can’t stroll to the polls, we’re going downstairs and getting them an absentee ballot,” Leland said.
And folks in the Divine Nine know that this message is going well past folks in the Black community.
Back in 2008, Barack Obama was elected as the first Black man to be President of the United States. While Obama’s victory was symbolic, it represented a different sentiment, according to Politico.
“I mean, people had a different feeling about Barack,” Marck Morial, a third-generation Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity member, said. “Barack was symbolic. Barack was not Divine Nine. Barack was not HBCU.”
Elsie Cooke-Holmes, the national president and chair of the National Board of Directors of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority agreed with the sentiment.
“It’s a different kind of energy,” she said. “It just turned it into overdrive.”
