Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporatedhad 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 over 283,000 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.
The Shadow League is about more than simply Sports and Entertainment, because those two elements intersect with every segment of society. So today, in honor of the dynamic sorority’s founder’s day, we honor some of the best and brightest women who are at theforefront of effective advocacy and social change that results in equality and equity for all citizens of the world.
There is an amazing group of honorary AKA’s that includes the likes of Jada Pinkett-Smith, Maya Angelou, Ntozake Shange, Alice Walker, Iyanla Vanzant, Julie Dash, Ella Fitzgerald, Alicia Keys, Gladys Knight, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, C. Delores Tucker, Suzanne de Passe, Catherine Hughes, Mae Jemison,Dr.Wangari Muta Maathai, Eleanor Roosevelt, Zina Garrison and C. Vivian Stringer.
But our list focuses on the women who pledged an undergraduate or a graduate chapter.
LORETTA DEVINE –Devine graduated from the University of Houstonin 1971 with aBachelor of ArtsinSpeechandDramaandBrandeis Universityin 1976 with aMFA inTheater. Sheappeared in films such Waiting to Exhale,The Preacher’s Wife,I Am Sam,Urban Legend,Crash,Woman Thou Art Loosed,For Colored Girls,This ChristmasandJumping the Broom.
Her television work includesroles as Marla Hendricks in theFoxdrama seriesBoston Public, and for her recurring role as Adele Webber on Shonda Rhimes’ Grey’s Anatomy, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Seriesin 2011.
PHYLICIA RASHAD– Rashad studied atHoward University and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts in 1970.Best known for her role asClair Huxtableon the The Cosby Show, Rashad was the the affirmation of African-American poise, beauty and intelligence during the show’s grip on American consciousness from 1984 through 1992.
She was the first African-American actress to win the Best Actress Tony Award, which she won for her 2004 performance in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. She most recetlyplayed the widowed wife of former fictional heavyweight champion Apollo Creed in the latest installment of the Rocky movie franchise, Creed.
ROXIE ROKER – Roker is best known for her role as Helen Willis,half of the first interracial couple to be shown on American prime time television in 1975. After growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Roker, who is the mother of singer Lenny Kravitz, attended Howard University.
She was a reporter onWNEW-TVin New York in the 1970s and hosted apublic affairsshow for the station known asInsideBed-Stuy, dealing with events in the Brooklyn neighborhood. A cousin of The Today Show’s Al Roker, she passed away from breast cancer in 1995.
WANDA SYKES – Sykes earned anEmmy Award in 1999 for her writing onThe Chris Rock Show and her recurring appearances as herself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm were beyond hilarious.
Speaking of hilarious, she starred in Pootie Tang, one of the most criminally underappreciated comedies of all time. Whah Dah Tao! She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in MarketingfromHampton University. Comedy Central has ranked her among the top 100 Stand Up comedians of all time.
EDWIDGE DANTICAT – Born inPort-au-Prince,Haiti, Danticat grew up in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from the prestigious Barnard College with a Bachelor’s of Arts in French Literature. She later received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing fromBrown Universityin 1993.
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Her Master’s thesis, entitled “My turn in the fire an abridged novel”,was the basis for her acclaimed novelBreath, Eyes, Memory. The author of 15 books, she has an Honorary Degree from Yale and was awarded theMacArthur Fellows ProgramGenius Grant in 2009.
TONI MORRISON -A Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, Morrison has received thePresidential Medal of Freedom andthePulitzer Prizeand theAmerican Book Awardin 1988 forBelovedand the Nobel Prizein 1993.
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Her other seminal works includeThe Bluest Eye, Sula and my personal favorite, Song of Solomon. Morrison graduated from Howard University with a B.A. in English and later received her Master’s from Cornell University.
SONIA SANCHEZ – Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Sanchez moved to Harlem when she was nine years old. Shereceived a B.A. in Political Science fromHunter College and went on to complete her postgraduate studies in Poetry atNew York University. The author ofover a dozen books of poetry, as well as short stories, critical essays, plays, and children’s books, she hastaught as a professor at eight universities and has lectured at over 500 college campuses across the United States.
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She advocated the introduction of Black Studies courses in California and was the first to create and teach a course based on Black Women and literature in the United States. She is currently a poet-in-residence at Temple University.
DR. CASSANDRA WILSON – A two-time Grammy Award winner, Wilson is ajazzmusician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer. Shegraduated with a degree inmass communications from Jackson State University and later receivedher Ph.D in Arts fromMillsaps College.
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Her1996 albumNew Moon Daughterwon theGrammyforBest Jazz Vocal Performance. In 1997, she recorded and toured as a featured vocalist withWynton Marsalis’ Pulitzer Prizewinning composition,Blood on the Fields.
STAR JONES – Jones wears many hats. She’s alawyer,journalist,writer, television personality,fashion designer and women’s and diversity advocate. She grew up in Trenton, New Jersey andearned a B.A. degree in Administration of Justice atAmerican University.
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She went on toearn her Juris Doctorate from theUniversity of Houston Law Centerin 1986, and was admitted to the New York state bar in 1987. She is most popularly known as one of the original co-hosts of the televison show, The View.
DR. PATRICIA BATH – A Harlem native, Bathreceived herBachelor of Artsinchemistryfrom Manhattan’sHunter College and went on to attend the Howard University College of Medicine.
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The firstAfrican-Americanwoman doctor to receive apatentfor a medical purpose, she owns four patents and also founded theAmerican Institute for the Prevention of BlindnessinWashington, D.C. She was the first African-AmericanResident in Ophthalmology atNew York Universityand the first African-American woman to have ever served on staff as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center.
DR. DOROTHY FEREBEE – Aphysician and activist, Ferebeegraduated fromSimmons Collegein Boston, Massachusetts, andTufts University Medical School.
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In addition to beingthe longtime Director of Health Services atHoward UniversityMedical School, she wasthe first Medical Director for the Mississippi Health Project, which has been cited by Thomas J. Ward, Jr., in his book, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South,as “…one the most impressive examples of voluntary public health work ever conducted by black physicians in the Jim Crow South, touching thousands of black Mississippians at a time when they had virtually no access to professional medical care.”
SHARON PRATT – The Mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1991-1995, she was the firstAfrican-Americanwoman to serve as mayor of a major American city.
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A product of DC public schools, she received aB.A.inpolitical science from Howard University and later earned her Juris Doctorate from theHoward University School of Law.
LUCY DIGGS SLOWE – One of the original founders ofAlpha Kappa AlphaSorority at Howard University in 1908, shewas appointed the first Dean of Women at Howard in 1922.
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The first African-American woman to win a major sports championship, she wonthe national title of theAmerican Tennis Association’s first tournament in 1917.
ALTHEA GIBSON – A graduate of Florida A&M University, Gibson is one of the most important, accomplished and impactful African-American athletes in the history of sport.A true trailblazer, she was the first blackathlete to cross the color line of international tennis. Winning the French Open in 1956,she became the first person of color to win aGrand Slamtitle.
She won 11 Grand Slam tournaments, including six doubles titles, and is widely regarded to be among the very best players ever alongside Serena Williams, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. She is on par with Jackie Robinson in terms of challenging racism, ignorance, prejudice and stereotypes through her athletic prowess, integrity, composure and intelligence.
