When Donald Trump attacked U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel for his Mexican heritage it set off a firestorm of controversy and it angered many of one organization in particular.
Members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. immediately jumped to Curiel’s defense once it became widely known that the judge is also a Kappa. The fraternity’s grand polemarch (president) even issued a statement in defense of Curiel. The judge’s membership in this fraternity became so widely known because Curiel’s affiliation was pointed out in an online article on www.WatchTheYard.com.
Watch the Yard is the online media space of Black Greeks and those interested in Black Greek culture. The site that receives more than one million hits per month is the brainchild of 28-year-old Jonathan Rabb, a native of South Minneapolis and a University of Minnesota graduate. Rabb, who is also a Kappa, created the site while in Germany as a Fulbright scholar. He said he developed the idea not only as a fulfillment of a required project, but more so, because of a longing to stay connected to the Black Greek community at the U of M – his former “yard.”
“For my project I was charged with focusing on audience development so I created a YouTube channel of original content. I came up with the idea for Watch the Yard because I was away from my yard (campus) and wanted to know what was going on back home with the organizations at the U of M,” said Rabb. “And I figured that there was a demand for others who wanted to stay connected to their yards but were really far away. I wanted to connect Black Greek culture in one digital space.”
Rabb has done a lot of connecting. When word of the site spread Rabb said he was flooded with emails of people sending him videos of Black Greeks that date back to 1982.
“I have the biggest collection in the nation of Black fraternity and sorority videos,” said Rabb. “I have people who will go into the closet and dust off videotapes and send them to me to post.”
Indeed, in visiting the site, viewers can watch hours upon hours of competition step shows, Black Greeks strolling – a synchronized line of dancing performed by members of the various Black Greek-letter organizations – and other activities involving members of the Divine Nine – the nine traditionally recognized Black fraternities and sororities. In addition to videos, there are postings of newsworthy stories involving Black Greek-letter organizations and their members.
Though Rabb is a Kappa, he makes it a point to equally highlight the positive works of all nine organizations.
“Black Greeks are at the forefront of a lot of what’s happening in the African-American community,” said Rabb. “The guy who went on the hunger strike at the University of Missouri that got the university’s president fired is a Sigma (Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.) and another key protester was the student body president and he was an Alpha (Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc.), Colin Kapernick is a Kappa, Sandra Bland was S. G. Rho (Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.),” said Rabb. “(U.S. Atty. Gen.) Loretta Lynch is a Delta (Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.). Six of the people killed in the South Carolina church shooting were members of Black Greek-letter organizations. I wanted to create a place where we can talk about these issues when news happens and it affects the Black Greek community.”
Several non-Greeks are checking out Watch the Yard, too. Stories posted on Rabb’s site have been shared by the Huffington Post, New York Times and even by rapper 2 Chainz. With the success of the site Rabb has set his sights on another popular subculture – Historically Black College and University (HBCU) band culture. Earlier this fall Rabb launched Watch the Bands (www.WatchTheBands.com). The site features current and vintage band footage from bands representing several HBCUs.
“I want to do what I did with Watch the Yard for Black marching bands,” said Rabb. “If you go down South that culture is really thick.”
