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‘Divine Nine' historically Black organizations hope efforts will turn out the vote
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As American voters prepare to cast their ballots on Tuesday, members of historically Black fraternities and sororities are hoping for record-setting voter turnout after months of get-out-the-vote efforts.
The organizations, known as the “Divine Nine,” make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council and have more than 2 million members across collegiate and graduate chapters. Over the past few months, their chapters have held voter registration drives, candidate forums and town halls, and have collaborated on voter empowerment efforts, including in a PSA featuring the presidents of all nine organizations.
The groups were founded in the early 1900s and during the Civil Rights Movement: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., 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., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
“The Divine Nine made a collective decision to try to work in concert to show that we are stronger together,” Willis L. Lonzer III, general president of Alpha Phi Alpha, tells NPR. “Our efforts as Divine Nine organizations [are] to get people to be engaged and to exercise their right to vote, to be actively involved and know the ballots and to also know the platforms on both sides so they can make an informed decision.”
He says Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity for Black men, has been educating voters on issues such as voter suppression and policies, particularly in the Black community, through its “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People” program, since the 1930s. The fraternity also announced in August it was giving up to $100,000 in microgrants to its chapters to partner with other groups in their communities and support voter mobilization efforts.
A historic moment for the Divine Nine
While the organizations are nonpartisan and have not endorsed a presidential candidate, members are excited about the possibility of Vice President Harris, who is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, making history.
“We are excited that a member of the Divine Nine is at the top of the ticket to become, potentially, the president of the United States of America, the most powerful position on the planet. ... [A]n alumna of an HBCU could potentially be the president of the United States,” says Lonzer.
That excitement has been evident among Divine Nine sorority members, and other women have joined weekly calls by the Win With Black Women initiative, founded by Jotaka Eaddy, a member of Delta Sigma Theta, in which thousands of participants have rallied to support Black women running for office since 2020, including Harris.
During a call on Monday night, Harris briefly joined and thanked the movement for its support. Elsie Cooke-Holmes is international president of Delta Sigma Theta, but says she joined the call outside of her leadership role.
“It was emotional to be in that moment ... thinking about how hard we have all worked these years and how we stand on the shoulders of Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan and others ... those who were beaten for the right to vote,” Cooke-Holmes tells NPR. “That they are looking down and saying, ‘We are making history.’”
Delta Sigma Theta's first act of public service was participating in the Washington, D.C., women’s suffrage march in 1913, Cooke-Holmes notes. With over 1,000 chapters, the sorority has consistently held voter registration events and programs over the years, but she says that efforts have “kicked into overdrive” this election season.
Cooke-Holmes says the organization has trained thousands of its members to canvass and educate their communities on the voting process. She is also expecting a high voter turnout, particularly among young voters, and says Delta Sigma Theta's collegiate chapters have held many programs to inform their peers about the election.
“We know that our vote is truly our voice. We know how critical getting out to vote is,” she said, adding that members are volunteering as poll workers and have traveled to states such as Pennsylvania to help with get-out-the-vote initiatives.
On Tuesday, Cooke-Holmes says members will volunteer across the country in key battleground states such as Georgia, helping take voters to the polls. Delta Sigma Theta is also partnering with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to open “boiler rooms” in key states such Alabama and Florida; they will focus on election protections and poll monitoring so that “every vote that’s cast is counted and ultimately certified,” she says.
Members on the ballot in other races
The Divine Nine organizations already have many members in elected positions at the local, state and congressional levels, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.
Members have also held Cabinet positions and been appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, including Justice Thurgood Marshall, an Alpha Phi Alpha member, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was inducted into Delta Sigma Theta as an honorary member last year.
This election season, members are also excited for fellow brothers and sisters running for office in other races and showing support through political action committees.
Alpha Kappa Alpha, which has more than 360,000 members, launched a political action committee in August to fundraise and support candidates, including Harris. Delta Sigma Theta’s D4 Women in Action, an advocacy organization launched in 2020, is supporting their members running for office, including Maryland Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, and others including Harris.
Lonzer says Alpha Phi Alpha will hold a national prayer call Monday evening so participants can be “united in spirit and mindset.”
“The prayer call is really for us to realize and see the upholding of the tenets of democracy that the right thing will take place ... for us to pray for a smooth transition of power [and] that we would see the will of the people prevail,” he says.
Chandelis Duster is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
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