Soror support
In VP Kamala Harris, Memphis Alpha Kappa Alphas watch a sorority sister make history.
As Vice President Kamala Harris took her oath of office Wednesday, Martha Perine Beard, wearing a single strand of pearls, teared up.
“It was just so meaningful knowing that that was somebody that was a member of our sisterhood,” the 72-yearold Alpha Kappa Alpha member said, “standing there as vice president of the United States.”
Beard, of Cordova, is chief of staff to Alpha Kappa Alpha’s President Glenda Glover, who is also the president at Tennessee State University. She pledged AKA while in college at now-clark Atlanta University.
Beard now shares a sisterhood with the new vice president, the first woman, first Black person and first South Asian person to ever hold the office.
Because of the pandemic, the sisterhood was apart for the inauguration, but members still wore their pink and green.
To watch Harris, who became an AKA at Howard University in the 1980s, ascend to the vice presidency has been an “incredible moment for the sorority,” Beard said. It’s also one that she doubts the founders of AKA dreamed of.
“We’ve accomplished a lot in the last 113 years,” Beard said, referencing AKA’S origin in 1908, “but I don’t think that any of us thought (of) this happening.”
Holding roles for national office, Beard remains a member of her local graduate chapter, one of three in the Memphis-shelby County area. There is a fourth area graduate chapter in Desoto County, and four undergraduate chapters at local colleges and universities — Lemoyne-owen College, University of Memphis, Rhodes College and Christian Brothers University — make for a total of eight local groups.
Here’s what some of the local AKA leaders had to say about the inauguration.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Martha Perine Beard, 72
Beard is the chief of staff to national AKA President, Glenda Glover.
On the history of AKA: “There were very few Black people in college, and even fewer Black women. So when they thought about a sorority and a way of bringing people together, it was at a time in the country where you didn’t have Black people who had any opportunities. And for these ones who were privileged enough to be able to go college and think ahead, ‘We’re very fortunate but we don’t represent the masses,’ that they knew that they needed to band together and determine how can we work together to make life better, that was how the sorority came about.”
On Kamala Harris’ inauguration: “I know that they (the sorority’s founders) wanted to make the world different, but I don’t think those nine ladies had any idea that one of our own would be the vice president of the United States.”
On the expanded recognition of AKA: “Black fraternities and sororities have always been well known in the Black community, and some parts of the white community as well. But I don’t think they understood the strength of what we call the Divine Nine...i think this period of time has shown how significant these organizations are and how important they are, because you saw how much Vice President Harris talked about her membership and what it did for her. And that’s the way all of us feel.”
Jane Venson-talford, 56
Venson-talford is the president of the Beta Epsilon Omega chapter in Memphis.
On becoming an AKA: “My influence (to join) were family members. My mother and sister (are) Alpha Kappa Alpha. And also my father’s...older sisters were Alpha Kappa Alpha, and they each were initiated at...the chapter at Lemoyne-owen College. So quite a bit of history with Alpha Kappa Alpha here in Memphis with my immediate family.”
On supporting Kamala Harris: “I actually supported Kamala Harris in her bid for presidency. So as she continued her journey for vice president, I continued to (have) excitement, and just what that meant for our country. I feel that we live in a time where there’s increasing complexity in our views and our values, and I feel that she is positioned perfectly to be someone that is knowledgeable and can speak for so many different segments of our citizens, our various cultural differences, and someone that will have great understanding.”
On the pearls she wore during the inauguration: “These pearls are significant in that they were given to me by my husband...claude Talford, who was recently deceased (to COVID-19) on Jan. 7 ...So these pearls were special because they were a gift from him.”
On what VP Harris means to girls: “Not only the members of my family, but all of the young girls that are in our community, that have an opportunity to see the reward that Kamala has achieved, or been given, due to all of the steps that she’s taken prior to now, and just knowing that all of those young ladies that have the opportunity to see her in this role know that their future is bright and their future is what they make it, and they know that they have the same opportunities and can make the same opportunities as others, and that is really important. And it’s one of our (AKA) missions...for us to ensure that we carry that message to young women.”
Tamala Boyd Shaw, 46
Shaw is the president of the Alpha Alpha Zeta Omega chapter in Desoto County.
On being and becoming an AKA: “I had this awesome, amazing anatomy and physiology teacher in high school, and she was an AKA, and an English teacher and she’s an AKA, and they really influenced my life. And I said, ‘I just really want to be a lady like they are.’ ...Knowing that AKA has always been and continues to be about service was one of the things that continuously resonates with me. And the other thing is sisterhood. Just building a sisterhood among women who honestly and earnestly endeavor to bring women into leadership roles, into impactful roles to make a difference.”
On her chapter’s outfits: “Of course, I came to work in my chucks and pearls, and as representative as possible. And so we started as early as 6:30, 7 a.m., posting our pictures with our selfies...posting our inauguration outfit in our Groupme. And tonight at 8 p.m. we are going to select the winner...so we’ve been back and forth, posting pictures, liking pictures, commenting on pictures, all of those things...i have on some green slacks. I have on pink socks, some white chucks, and a black shirt that has the White House on it, pink and green. It says, ‘Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021.’”
On watching students watch the inauguration: “So our scholars here...have been watching CNN 10, which is the student version of CNN, all day, and engaging in activities from spelling bees about words associated with the inauguration to learning why is this historic...i’m even thinking about how I can pen a letter to leave for my scholars here about this day and how historic it is for them to remember that the very first woman of color was inaugurated as the vice president of the United States.”
On poet Amanda Gorman: “It just stole my heart. She stole my whole heart.”
Marceia Ashe, 43
Ashe is the president of the Alpha Alpha Gamma Omega chapter in Memphis.
On watching the inauguration: “I watched it and just thought to myself, how far we’ve come, but how far we still have to go. Knowing that I have two daughters, and being able to sit and watch this with them and listen and take in their experience just made me feel really proud that they were able to look at Harris and really see themselves, see something that they could accomplish in their lifetime and see something that they really could strive for.”
On the power of sisterhood: “One thing that I think just resonates with me is the collective effort of being in a sorority, being a part of something bigger than yourself that gives back to the community, and actually pushes forward the agenda of service. And that’s one of the great things that even outside of just the sisterhood, I think the service that we do has to be at the forefront, because it’s what drives us all and making sure that even though we are, in whatever career, in whatever space in life, we always have to turn around and give back to the community.”
On what Harris means to her daughters: “So one of the things that they (Maya, 17, Elayna, 14) talked about was, it was really great when Obama was president, but what we see with Kamala Harris is a woman doing this, a female doing this, and we now know that it’s possible...so seeing that and hearing that and understanding that as a woman you shouldn’t be, or you can’t be, diminished, because we are now on that podium, we are now on that platform. So we have the opportunity to just move forward, and move that needle even farther than we already have seen it move in the last 20 years.”
Laura Testino at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763.