Paying homage: Congresswoman inspires sisters on Delta’s Founders Day
The third floor of Potawatomi’s Hotel & Casino was awash in crimson and cream Saturday morning — the colors worn by hundreds of members of Delta Sigma Theta sorority who gathered to celebrate its Wisconsin Statewide Founders Day.
Delta Sigma Theta was founded in 1913 by 22 Howard University students and today serves as a social and professional network for African American women.
U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, became a Delta during her undergraduate years at Ohio State University and later served as the sorority’s 21st national president. Before that, she was a prosecutor in Cuyahoga County and the first African American and female mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio.
As a representative of Ohio’s 11th District, Fudge has championed voting rights; child nutrition; and the protection of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Fudge gave the keynote speech Saturday, calling on her sorority sisters to to be selfless, vote, fill out the census and remember where they came from.
“We can’t control everything; we can’t do everything. But we must do what we are called to do,” she said, likening them to the Dora Milaje, the fictional female warriors of Wakanda in the film “Black Panther.”
“We are the Dora Milaje of our time,” she said. “In the movie, they were there to protect the king, but we are here to protect the kingdom.”
Before the event, Fudge sat down for a brief conversation with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Question: When and why did you first join Delta Sigma Theta Sorority?
Fudge: I come from one of those families that’s a very close-knit family, so when I first went to Ohio State, they told me I had to stay with my cousin. My cousin lived in the suite with (two) Deltas. We all became friends and ultimately, I pledged. They were the people on campus that were doing things . ... They had the best GPAs on campus, so that was the perfect spot for me to be.
Q: What is Delta Sigma Theta about?
Fudge: I think, sisterhood. I have no biological sisters, but now I have hundreds of thousands of them. It’s also about networking and empowerment. I’m a kid that basically grew up in a very poor neighborhood. To have a network no matter where you go that is positive and uplifting and encouraging is very, very important.
Q: What is the sorority’s mission?
Fudge: It’s to empower women (and) our communities. Our founders made it a point to say, “We’re not here for a party or for a play. We’re here to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves . ... We’re here to say, we’re going to be recognized, we’re going to be respected as black women.” I think that’s always what we’re going to do.
Q: Why did you pursue politics?
Fudge: I got involved in politics because one of my sorority sisters, a very close friend, ran for judge. And then I subsequently went to law school and became her law clerk. Then she ran for something else and I kind of went with her there. So I was involved in it because I worked in politics. Whenever it was time for me to move, God just put something in my way.
Q: What is the significance of the women’s vote today?
Fudge: If we don’t vote, nothing happens. Women vote in much larger numbers, we are more sophisticated voters, we are more consistent and loyal voters. We pay attention, not to say that men don’t, we just do it in bigger numbers.
Q: Milwaukee is going to become a political epicenter; what are you most excited about? (The Democratic National Convention will be held in Milwaukee July 13-16) Fudge: The city should be ready for people coming in and taking over your town (laughing). But it’s exciting. It is an opportunity for the city to show its best, but it’s also a time to say ... don’t just give us everything good — show us that people are struggling. Show us why the Democratic Party should have come here and what we need to do to make the lives of people we serve better every day.
Q: What advice would you give women, especially young women of color, who want to get into politics?
Fudge: I would say, don’t think you can start at the top. Get involved in somebody’s campaign. Understand the political system. Immerse yourself in reading (and) being involved locally, starting in schools. Whether you want to be on the school board, city council, the lieutenant governor, the mayor — there are lots of tracks. But you have to find out what tracks work for you.
What does Founders Day mean to you?
Fudge: All of us drink from wells that we did not dig. And so you pay homage and you say to those who went before you, “Thank you for what you have done, look at how we have grown and, hopefully, we have made you proud.” But you also say thank you for the hard work you did to get us to this point; it wasn’t us; it was them.