A Call to Action: Social Justice and

1/15/2020 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,

Incorporated ®

Scholar Kim Council

Scholar Nadine Eads
Scholar Theresa Sanders
Scholar Deborah Santiago
Scholar Rachael Walton

Anna Easter Brown Leadership Institute

 1

This chapter explores the complexity of social justice relative to a leadership style.

Furthermore, it highlights the prominence of social justice within the mission of Alpha Kappa
®
Alpha Sorority, Incorporated throughout its historic trajectory.  Social Justice with respect to

leadership is an underdeveloped construct and was difficult to pinpoint in the literature. As noted

by Jean-Marie, Normore and Brooks [CITATION Seo \l 1033 ], it is not easy to define social justice.

To get a better handle on social justice, Gerwitz and Cribb[CITATION Ger02 \n \l 1033 ] identified

three components: distributive, cultural and associational justice.  Distributive justice involves

the fair distribution of goods; cultural justice considers the absence of cultural domination and

non-recognition of cultural groups; and associational justice incorporates the participation of

marginalized groups in decisions that impact their lives.  

There was a paucity of literature that explored what social justice leadership looks like in

terms of behaviors and attributes. Most of the literature centered on social justice leadership in

education. There are several themes that emerged from the education evolution that helped

produce different styles of leadership. This includes approaches such as action oriented,

transformative, committed and persistent, inclusive and democratic, relational and caring,

reflective and oriented toward a socially just pedagogy, [ CITATION Fur12 \l 1033 ].

  As a precursor to implementing these practices, it is imperative for leaders to develop an

awareness of oppression, exclusion and marginalization in order to mitigate unfair practices.

Commitment and practice are translated into courage, which is needed to transform institutional

and systemic structures of oppression. Authentic participation by marginalized groups is seen as

the cornerstone of social justice work. Equity is just and fair inclusion into a society in which all

can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential” [ CITATION The \l 1033 ] . Given this, leaders
 2

facilitate or help to create the opportunity for empowerment by creating mechanisms that lead to

spaces for democratic processes [ CITATION Gol02 \l 1033 ].

“Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated had its humble beginnings as the vision of

nine college students on the campus of Howard University in 1908. Since then, the sorority has

flourished into a globally-impactful organization of nearly 300,000 college-trained members,

bound by the bonds of sisterhood and empowered by a commitment to servant-leadership that is

both domestic and international in its scope.” [CITATION Abo19 \l 1033 ]. From the inception of

the Sorority, slightly more than 40 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the sorority was

conceived as a mechanism to better the lives of recently freed slaves. The Sorority was founded

between the Reconstruction Era (1877) and the launch of the Civil Rights Movement in 1955.

Highlights of the Sorority’s social justice work are as follows:

1900s— Encouraged social action through presentation of Negro artists and social justice

advocates; established the first organizational scholarship at Howard University (1914); worked

to dispel notions that Negroes were unfit for certain professions (1923); pushed anti-lynching

legislation (1921: became first organization to take out NAACP life membership (1939); created

nation’s first Congressional lobby that impacted legislation on issues ranging from decent living

conditions and jobs to lynching (1938); established the nation’s first mobile health clinic, the

Mississippi Delta (1935); invited other Greek-letter organizations to establish the American

Council on Human Rights to empower racial uplift and economic development (1948); acquired

observer status from the United Nations (1946); and challenged the absence of people of color

from pictorial images used by the government to portray Americans (1944); promoted investing

in Black businesses by depositing initial $38,000 for AKA Investment Fund with the first and

only Negro firm on Wall Street (1958); spurred Sickle Cell Disease research and education with
 3

grants to Howard Hospital and publication of The Sickle Cell Story (1958); sponsored inaugural

Domestic Travel Tour (1969); launched a “Heritage Series” (1965); emerged as the first

women’s group to win a grant to operate a federal job corps center (1965); was only sorority to

be named an inaugural member of Operation Big Vote (1979); completed pledge of one-half

million to the United Negro College Fund (1976); and purchased Dr. Martin Luther King’s

boyhood home for the MLK Center for Social Change (1972); adopted more than 27 African

villages, earning Africare’s 1986 Distinguished Service Award; encouraged awareness of and

participation in the nation’s affairs, registering more than 350,000 new voters; and established

the Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Foundation (1981); built 10 schools in South

Africa (1998); added the largest number of minorities to the National Bone Marrow Registry

(1996); and became first civilian organization to create a memorial to World War II unsung hero

Dorie Miller (1991).

2000s—Donated $1 million to Howard University to fund scholarships and preserve Black

culture (2008); strengthened the reading skills of 16,000 children through a $1.5 million after

school demonstration project (2002); and improved the quality of life for people of African

descent through continuation of aid to African countries; focused on Achievement, Self-

Awareness, Communication, Engagement, Networking and Developmental Skills through the

ASCEND℠; donated and distributed One Million Backpacks℠ over a four-year period;

launched AKA 1908 Playground Project℠; and coordinated a national campaign, Think

HBCU℠, to highlight HBCUs (2018); launched Emerging Young Leaders (2010) [CITATION

Abo19 \n \t \l 1033 ].

The Sorority’s various social justice activities reflect programs that elucidate  

 4

 action oriented, transformative, committed and persistent, inclusive and democratic, relational

and caring, and a reflective leadership style that resulted in enhancing the lives of others by

creating resourceful pathways for equity and successful outcomes.  

References
(2019). Retrieved from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated: https://aka1908.com/about

Furman, G. (2012). Social Justice Leadership as Praxis. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(2), 191-
229.

Gerwitz, S., & Cribb, A. (2002). Plural Conceptions of Social Justice: Implications for Policy Sociology.
Journal of Education Policy, 17(5), 499-509.

Goldfarb, K. P., & Grinberg, J. (2002). Leadership for Social Justice: Authentic Participation in the Case of
a Community Center in Caracas, Venezuela. Journal of School Leadership, 12(2), 157-173.

Seong, S., Shen, J., & Ilon, L. (2009, June 1). Reflections to Jean-Marie, Normore, and Brooks' Article
within the Context of Korean Education. Journal of Research on Leadership Educatoin, 4(1), 95-
110. Retrieved November 11, 2019, from
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/194277510900400106?journalCode=jrla

The Equity Manifesto. (n.d.). Retrieved from PolicyLink:

https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/pl_sum15_manifesto_FINAL_2018.pdf