WEBVTT 00:00.100 --> 00:02.035 Support for Louisiana. 00:02.035 --> 00:04.938 The state we're in is provided by. 00:05.071 --> 00:07.474 Every day I go to work for Entergy. 00:07.474 --> 00:09.242 I know customers are counting on me. 00:09.242 --> 00:12.746 So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on 00:12.846 --> 00:16.716 and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen. 00:16.783 --> 00:18.618 Together, together, together. 00:18.618 --> 00:23.618 We power life. 00:30.630 --> 00:33.166 Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth 00:33.333 --> 00:37.537 Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall. 00:37.904 --> 00:41.975 The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical 00:41.975 --> 00:44.377 and cultural center for southwest Louisiana 00:45.812 --> 00:49.249 and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting. 00:49.516 --> 00:54.516 With support from viewers like you. 01:06.299 --> 01:08.401 People want to know exactly. 01:08.735 --> 01:11.571 But we're asking people to predict something 01:11.571 --> 01:13.473 that's not terribly easy to predict. 01:13.473 --> 01:15.175 The dynamics of Hurricane Ian. 01:15.175 --> 01:17.143 And the math just doesn't add up. 01:17.143 --> 01:18.878 Campaign ads that trigger. 01:18.878 --> 01:23.516 They believe that they're legally coming to this country for refuge. 01:23.650 --> 01:26.653 There are more refugees detained in Louisiana than you might think. 01:26.920 --> 01:29.289 What's life like in detainment? 01:30.390 --> 01:31.057 About 01:31.758 --> 01:35.528 the origins of black Greek life. 01:37.397 --> 01:38.431 We're very lucky and. 01:38.431 --> 01:41.134 Grateful to be here to tell our story. 01:41.167 --> 01:41.935 But it was. 01:41.935 --> 01:42.902 It was nasty. 01:42.902 --> 01:44.437 I think it's unbelievable how. 01:44.437 --> 01:45.772 People are just helping each other. 01:45.772 --> 01:50.772 And maybe everyone in this world can learn a little bit from the storm. 02:03.990 --> 02:06.626 Florida is in just the beginning stages of recovery. 02:06.659 --> 02:08.761 They sure are. And it won't be quick. 02:09.028 --> 02:12.732 After the fury unleashed by Hurricane Ian, Louisiana knows all about this. 02:12.765 --> 02:14.467 We offer prayer and support. 02:14.467 --> 02:16.202 And in a moment, more on AM. 02:16.202 --> 02:19.172 But first tonight, a clearer picture of our upcoming governor's race. 02:19.305 --> 02:22.809 This week, Attorney General Jeff Landry officially declared he will run. 02:23.042 --> 02:25.178 He joins Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. 02:25.411 --> 02:27.380 They're the two who've already announced. 02:27.380 --> 02:30.049 State Treasurer John Schroeder expected to announce soon. 02:30.083 --> 02:33.419 A bunch of other candidates are expected, including Senator Bill Cassidy 02:33.419 --> 02:34.821 and Senator John Kennedy. 02:34.821 --> 02:36.289 The list is already pretty long. 02:36.289 --> 02:41.060 Hey, there could be some good news in the looming homeowner's insurance crisis. 02:41.327 --> 02:45.431 A legislative package that passed this week aims to beef up protection 02:45.598 --> 02:46.599 for policyholders. 02:46.599 --> 02:49.502 And we'll have Jim Donelon in next week to talk about this. On why 03:02.982 --> 03:04.951 the pictures and video from Hurricane 03:04.951 --> 03:08.721 Ian's destruction in Florida are stunning and heartbreaking. 03:09.055 --> 03:12.659 They're also teaching us about storm surge in real time 03:12.926 --> 03:16.596 and the forces that encircle the eye wall of a hurricane. 03:16.930 --> 03:18.464 LSU hurricane climatologist 03:18.464 --> 03:21.901 Jules Trapani and LSU coastal meteorologist Paul Miller. 03:22.202 --> 03:23.536 Explain. 03:23.636 --> 03:26.773 Jill, you mentioned that you use this video. 03:26.773 --> 03:30.777 We're watching video of Fort Myers Beach as the storm surge comes in. 03:30.977 --> 03:33.179 In your class this week? Absolutely. 03:33.546 --> 03:38.184 I use it as a great example of what storm surge can be when it's at its worst. 03:38.218 --> 03:42.589 I think it's about the learning about how it actually happens 03:42.589 --> 03:43.556 and where it comes from. 03:43.556 --> 03:48.556 So a hurricane, when it's out over the open ocean, has a lot of real estate 03:48.895 --> 03:52.031 beneath the surface of the oceans, water all the way down to the depths 03:52.031 --> 03:53.433 and the ocean floor. 03:53.433 --> 03:57.136 As the storm approaches a coast, it reaches that continental shelf. 03:57.136 --> 03:59.839 And in the Gulf of Mexico, the shelf is very gradual. 03:59.839 --> 04:03.576 So you can think about a small depth change over space, 04:03.576 --> 04:06.846 but there's a large space as the storm approaches 04:06.846 --> 04:11.384 the actual coastline, it now has lost a lot of that real estate. 04:11.384 --> 04:15.788 And so that depth between the surface and the ocean floor just got a lot shorter. 04:16.122 --> 04:17.957 So the water goes up. 04:17.957 --> 04:20.893 Then it reaches the coast of Florida where you have 04:20.893 --> 04:24.664 a massive amount of infrastructure throughout a cityscape that water 04:24.797 --> 04:29.035 spills over the landscape and floods the roads in a relatively quick way. 04:29.068 --> 04:34.040 And that's why it's so different than we would see if we would see it in 04:34.040 --> 04:34.674 Louisiana. 04:34.674 --> 04:38.911 And we've not ever seen anything like this in actual time, 04:39.479 --> 04:41.281 but we know what happens. 04:41.281 --> 04:42.649 But it looks so different. 04:42.649 --> 04:45.785 And that's because we have the marshlands 04:45.785 --> 04:50.785 and we have so much of that and much and much less building right on the coast. 04:51.124 --> 04:51.824 Absolutely. 04:51.824 --> 04:55.461 So part of it is in Louisiana, we have so much swamp land, so much 04:55.461 --> 05:00.461 marshland that thankfully for that, we have what we call an ecosystem service 05:00.533 --> 05:03.336 where that environment actually provides a service 05:03.670 --> 05:07.240 to the people in Louisiana by taking some of that energy, 05:07.473 --> 05:11.344 dissipating it outward away from the actual landscape. 05:11.611 --> 05:13.680 Now, certainly we do reach land. 05:13.680 --> 05:16.783 It does actually spill over the area that we've seen in, you know, in 05:16.783 --> 05:17.984 Lake Charles, for example. 05:17.984 --> 05:22.984 But a lot of that energy is pushed to different places into greater depth 05:23.389 --> 05:27.460 because of that swamp vegetation or marshland vegetation. 05:27.493 --> 05:30.630 So this is really a super visual 05:31.731 --> 05:33.833 instruction of when we say 05:33.833 --> 05:37.603 preserving the coast marshlands as the buffer. 05:37.904 --> 05:40.139 That's why Florida doesn't have that. 05:40.373 --> 05:43.076 Louisiana does. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. 05:43.176 --> 05:46.713 I want to show you now just some of the aftermath. 05:47.013 --> 05:49.582 And Paul, as you look at this, 05:51.150 --> 05:52.352 describe 05:53.419 --> 05:55.855 why it's as bad as it is. 05:55.855 --> 05:58.491 Well, I think what we're seeing here is some of the absolute 05:58.491 --> 06:01.427 devastation that can occur in these eyewall winds. 06:01.928 --> 06:05.331 You know, sometimes you might be a parish or a county or two away 06:05.331 --> 06:06.933 from where the eyewall makes landfall. 06:06.933 --> 06:09.001 You might think, oh, well, it wasn't that bad. 06:09.001 --> 06:11.170 I had a tree down my yard, but that was it. 06:11.170 --> 06:13.873 But what we can see here is that in that immediate core 06:13.873 --> 06:16.509 of the strongest winds associated with the tropical cyclone, 06:16.709 --> 06:19.612 that we see things being literally leveled, 06:19.612 --> 06:22.081 that you see houses scraped off their foundations. 06:22.315 --> 06:26.052 Some of that's through a combination of the surge and the force of that water 06:26.052 --> 06:28.955 literally coming in and wiping the slate on foundations. 06:29.222 --> 06:32.258 But it's also these extreme hundred and 50 mile an hour winds 06:32.759 --> 06:34.560 that encounter these areas as well. 06:34.560 --> 06:36.295 That we've had and seen. 06:36.295 --> 06:38.831 Obviously, bridges collapse. 06:40.032 --> 06:40.867 New Orleans, 06:40.867 --> 06:43.636 of course, had that Mississippi about in Katrina. 06:44.470 --> 06:48.307 This storm is comparable in damage, 06:48.307 --> 06:50.877 it seems, to Katrina. 06:51.744 --> 06:53.646 And in the water, I suppose. 06:53.646 --> 06:55.581 I think they'll be talking about that. 06:55.581 --> 06:57.383 Am I correct to say that? 06:57.383 --> 06:58.251 Mm hmm. Yeah. 06:58.251 --> 06:59.886 You know what's important to point out 06:59.886 --> 07:03.156 when we were watching that storm surge video, that that is ocean water. 07:03.156 --> 07:06.192 I think sometimes it's confusing when we hear these reports of 20 07:06.192 --> 07:10.329 plus inches of rain to maybe confuse what's happening over 07:10.329 --> 07:13.299 the Florida peninsula with all the riverine flooding 07:13.466 --> 07:15.968 and the localized flooding associated with that rain 07:15.968 --> 07:18.204 and then maybe the storm surge that's happening on the coast, 07:18.371 --> 07:20.740 there were really kind of two components of this storm. 07:20.873 --> 07:23.409 One is that massive storm surge that we were viewing. 07:23.409 --> 07:25.144 And tons of rain. Exactly right. 07:25.144 --> 07:27.046 So they had both those things happening. 07:27.046 --> 07:30.349 There's been discussion about the forecasting 07:30.349 --> 07:33.085 and that people were confused about the forecasting. And 07:34.387 --> 07:36.222 as I listened to it, I wasn't. 07:36.222 --> 07:38.291 But I saw the cone. 07:38.291 --> 07:42.795 They wouldn't say anything unusual about that, but yet still people 07:43.529 --> 07:47.800 in Florida are saying that they feel the forecasting was confusing. 07:48.367 --> 07:49.969 Can you see why they would say that? 07:49.969 --> 07:54.106 Yes, I think it's a mismatch of expectation and then reality. 07:54.106 --> 07:57.443 So what people want, the weather state, the Weather Channel 07:57.443 --> 07:58.344 or the National Hurricane 07:58.344 --> 08:02.215 Center to be able to do is not exactly what they actually are able to do. 08:02.215 --> 08:05.351 The fact that they had it within a couple of hundred miles is 08:05.351 --> 08:08.321 quite the accurate forecast, if we think about it historically. 08:08.621 --> 08:12.325 We are getting closer and closer to being able to pinpoint where that storm 08:12.325 --> 08:13.392 is going to make landfall. 08:13.392 --> 08:16.462 But I think that people want to know exactly. 08:16.762 --> 08:20.900 But we're asking people to predict something that's not terribly easy 08:20.900 --> 08:21.601 to predict. 08:21.601 --> 08:24.704 Sometimes in these forecasting scenarios, just legitimately, 08:24.704 --> 08:27.273 we'll get conflicting guidance from our computer models. 08:27.874 --> 08:29.909 Last year with Hurricane Ida. 08:29.909 --> 08:32.945 There was remarkable agreement among the different climate models, 08:32.945 --> 08:35.715 all suggesting a landfall in southeast Louisiana. 08:35.882 --> 08:37.850 And so that was a relatively straightforward 08:37.850 --> 08:39.852 forecast with a lot of consistency. 08:39.852 --> 08:41.220 That's not always the case, though. 08:41.220 --> 08:44.323 Sometimes we see different global models kind of giving us 08:44.323 --> 08:47.894 different ideas of what might happen as the cyclone continues to evolve. 08:48.127 --> 08:50.396 And Hurricane Ian was one of those cases, and I think 08:50.396 --> 08:54.000 that maybe resulted in a little bit more fluctuation in that forecast 08:54.133 --> 08:56.369 as people were trying to make their final preparations. 08:56.402 --> 09:00.773 Any take away from what people have seen here in Louisiana 09:00.773 --> 09:04.710 and what we experience in Louisiana and that we know very well, 09:05.044 --> 09:08.848 because we have fresh, fresh memories of 2020 and 2021. 09:09.215 --> 09:12.952 I mean, I think that a lot of the lessons that we're learning from Hurricane Ian 09:12.952 --> 09:17.952 are are showcased in some of the successes that Louisiana actually has. 09:18.491 --> 09:19.559 As hard as that is. Right. 09:19.559 --> 09:23.763 I know we get hit with hurricanes a lot, but we are successful in some ways. 09:23.763 --> 09:27.833 And, one, having people get out of harm's way quickly, but also because we do have 09:27.833 --> 09:31.203 some of that added vegetation along the coast, it helps to protect us. 09:31.203 --> 09:33.272 And Florida does not have that. 09:33.272 --> 09:34.740 They used to. Right. 09:34.740 --> 09:37.376 And we've taken them out and build things in their way. 09:37.376 --> 09:38.477 And that's reasonable. 09:38.477 --> 09:41.647 But part of the risk of what we see in Florida compared to 09:41.647 --> 09:44.450 Louisiana is related to how we treat that landscape. 09:45.151 --> 09:46.652 And fascinating. 09:46.652 --> 09:48.421 Never thought about it in some of those ways. 09:48.421 --> 09:49.021 Thank you both. 09:49.021 --> 09:54.021 Again for coming in and talking to us. 10:03.803 --> 10:06.672 Midterms are about a month away and it's been pretty quiet 10:06.672 --> 10:09.942 until this week when a campaign ad from the heavy 10:09.942 --> 10:12.645 favorite, Senator John Kennedy, hit the airwaves. 10:12.945 --> 10:16.849 His anti-crime ad is what grabbed so much attention. 10:18.150 --> 10:21.420 Violent crime is surging in Louisiana. 10:21.854 --> 10:23.923 Woke leaders blame the police. 10:24.223 --> 10:25.391 Many on the left said 10:25.391 --> 10:29.595 the ad was blatantly racist, filled with words that triggered. 10:29.895 --> 10:32.431 Look, if you hate cops just because of the cops. 10:32.999 --> 10:34.834 The next time you get in trouble. 10:34.834 --> 10:37.670 Call a crackhead. Pollster and professor Dr. 10:37.670 --> 10:41.641 Silas Lee called the spot typical of ones we see these days. 10:41.874 --> 10:44.910 Some candidates, they exploit the fears 10:44.910 --> 10:47.613 and the stereotypes that may exist in society 10:47.980 --> 10:51.384 and a lack of understanding about an issue. 10:51.617 --> 10:54.987 In an attempt to see if that will give them some momentum 10:55.287 --> 10:57.957 or increase their level of support. 10:58.391 --> 11:00.860 And that's the difficulty. 11:00.860 --> 11:04.263 Sometimes people know less about an issue 11:04.897 --> 11:09.001 than we think, and therefore they tend to rely 11:09.001 --> 11:14.001 on using fear as a motivating to to generate support. 11:14.674 --> 11:19.674 Political analyst Jim Inkster says Kennedy positions himself to win races. 11:20.012 --> 11:24.417 Kennedy knows by virtue of having lost two races for the United States Senate 11:24.417 --> 11:26.385 before he finally won one 11:26.385 --> 11:31.090 that as a liberal Democrat, which he ran in 2004 and finished third 11:31.590 --> 11:36.590 and as a moderate Republican when he ran in 2008 and lost to Mary Landrieu. 11:36.662 --> 11:39.031 So he realized then that he had to go hard. 11:39.031 --> 11:39.665 Right. 11:39.665 --> 11:40.666 And he did so. 11:40.666 --> 11:42.168 And it's working for him. 11:42.168 --> 11:44.937 Kennedy's nearest challengers are both Democrats. 11:45.171 --> 11:47.173 Progressive voice Gary Chambers 11:47.173 --> 11:50.776 and Luke Mixon, who looks a bit like a younger John Bel Edwards. 11:50.776 --> 11:54.613 And in an open primary, the only way John Kennedy was going to be forced into 11:54.613 --> 11:58.984 a runoff is if there were another viable Republican taking votes away from him. 11:59.085 --> 12:00.953 But there's no Republican there. 12:00.953 --> 12:05.324 So he's basically out there alone appealing to about 60% of the electorate. 12:05.324 --> 12:08.561 And then you've got Luke Mixon and Gary Chambers who are appealing 12:08.561 --> 12:13.561 to the other 40, and the math just doesn't add up. 12:24.643 --> 12:27.513 A federal appeals court judge ruled that Dhaka violates U.S. 12:27.513 --> 12:31.751 immigration laws, putting nearly 600,000 young immigrants in limbo. 12:32.051 --> 12:33.819 The judge is keeping the policy intact, 12:33.819 --> 12:36.589 which means first time applicants will be turned away for now. 12:36.856 --> 12:40.359 I sat down with Noor Ahmed, the legal director for Louisiana's ACLU, 12:40.359 --> 12:42.762 to talk about immigration's impact on our state. 12:43.362 --> 12:46.665 When people think of immigration, they may not understand exactly why 12:46.665 --> 12:47.933 people are coming here. 12:47.933 --> 12:51.670 So in your experience working with these groups, why are they coming? 12:52.171 --> 12:54.740 So you have a number of reasons that people will come 12:54.740 --> 12:56.375 and present themselves at the border. 12:56.375 --> 12:59.812 We're talking about issues related to gang violence. 12:59.845 --> 13:02.181 We're talking about climate related issues. 13:02.515 --> 13:05.451 We're also talking about extraordinary poverty. 13:05.751 --> 13:10.256 And we're talking about government persecution and truly people 13:10.256 --> 13:13.259 who are living in countries who feel as though they have no hope 13:13.592 --> 13:17.429 and that if they stay in their countries, they will die there. 13:17.696 --> 13:19.698 They will die from lack of food. 13:19.698 --> 13:22.368 They will die because groups are coming to kill them 13:22.635 --> 13:27.206 and their only hope is to work to get out of that situation. 13:27.239 --> 13:31.277 And so we see people coming from the continent of Africa. 13:31.310 --> 13:36.182 We see them traveling through 11 countries in Latin America, 13:36.482 --> 13:40.186 facing rapes, muggings, the Darian Gap. 13:40.352 --> 13:44.123 Everyone who has traversed that actual pathway, 13:44.490 --> 13:47.860 they see dead bodies as they walk through. 13:47.860 --> 13:52.860 And oftentimes they lose people who they started on that journey with. 13:53.566 --> 13:56.635 So the people we see at the border 13:57.036 --> 14:00.606 are the absolute most desperate human beings. 14:00.606 --> 14:03.976 One can think of people who are coming to this country 14:04.276 --> 14:07.379 believing that they will be provided with refuge. 14:07.379 --> 14:10.583 And most importantly, these people believe that 14:10.583 --> 14:13.586 they are coming and presenting themselves legally. 14:13.953 --> 14:18.691 They see themselves as following through on the United States 14:18.991 --> 14:22.561 legal process for seeking asylum. 14:23.362 --> 14:25.397 So there's really a lack of understanding 14:25.598 --> 14:29.835 whenever they come here, an absolute lack of understanding. 14:29.835 --> 14:33.939 And even though this country says that these individuals 14:33.939 --> 14:38.277 are in, quote, civil detention, so they're not, quote, criminals, 14:38.911 --> 14:42.181 they wear tags that say inmate identification 14:42.181 --> 14:45.284 and they wear jumpsuits with stripes on them. 14:45.784 --> 14:50.784 So even though we have a system that says these are not, quote, criminals, 14:52.892 --> 14:57.892 they are treated exactly like criminals and they are housed in facilities 14:58.964 --> 15:03.964 that once housed people who were convicted of crimes in this country. 15:04.770 --> 15:07.473 So about how many immigrants do we have in Louisiana? 15:08.040 --> 15:11.076 So that's a difficult number that we've been working on 15:11.076 --> 15:13.212 because the data is ever changing. 15:13.545 --> 15:16.882 But we have now started to visit all of these facilities. 15:16.882 --> 15:21.882 And by our count, it seems as though we're talking about 3000 people 15:22.388 --> 15:23.389 within the state. 15:23.389 --> 15:28.389 But that number is ever changing and there are more facilities and beds 15:29.561 --> 15:30.362 available. 15:30.362 --> 15:35.362 So there are ten ice contract facilities in operation in this state, 15:36.468 --> 15:39.672 but we're talking about eight that are housing immigrants. 15:40.005 --> 15:44.276 Seven of the eight operating facilities are for profit prisons. 15:44.610 --> 15:48.714 That means we are profiting off the backs of immigrants. 15:49.014 --> 15:52.651 Some of those for profit prisons are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. 15:52.651 --> 15:57.423 So that means investors are making money off of immigrants. 15:57.556 --> 16:02.027 There is an extraordinary disconnect between detention 16:02.494 --> 16:05.030 and allowing investors 16:05.364 --> 16:09.668 and profiteers to engage in this business. 16:09.668 --> 16:11.937 And the fact that our federal government 16:11.937 --> 16:15.474 approved this is extraordinarily concerning. 16:15.474 --> 16:19.411 And while it may have stopped in the Department of Corrections context, 16:19.712 --> 16:23.515 it has to stop in the immigration context because the number of people 16:23.515 --> 16:27.319 we see with severe medical needs who are telling us 16:27.619 --> 16:32.619 that they're being given nothing but ibuprofen is shocking. 16:33.225 --> 16:36.195 We're talking about people who have a pound hemorrhoids. 16:36.228 --> 16:38.364 We're talking about people with cancer. 16:38.397 --> 16:42.301 We're talking about people who do not have their medication 16:42.301 --> 16:44.970 for severe medical illnesses. 16:45.604 --> 16:50.604 And they are not being given the care that they need. 16:50.676 --> 16:55.414 And in fact, the care that the performance based detention standards require. 16:55.414 --> 16:59.351 And that is part and parcel of what it means to incarcerate 16:59.885 --> 17:03.956 people who are coming to this country when it's very possible 17:04.256 --> 17:06.825 to allow them to live their lives 17:07.026 --> 17:10.429 as they go through the legal process of seeing 17:10.429 --> 17:13.465 whether they will or will not be granted asylum. 17:13.465 --> 17:17.603 And, in fact, it's virtually impracticable 17:17.603 --> 17:22.474 and mainly extraordinarily difficult to actually win 17:22.474 --> 17:26.545 your case in the absence of a lawyer and while you're in detention. 17:26.712 --> 17:28.981 So where does the ACLU come in? 17:28.981 --> 17:33.118 So we come in because we could not 17:33.118 --> 17:36.355 get answers to a lot of the questions you initially asked me. 17:36.622 --> 17:38.624 How many people are in detention? 17:38.624 --> 17:40.492 Who's in detention? 17:40.492 --> 17:42.528 How do they have a deportation order? 17:42.561 --> 17:46.031 So we along with three other coalition partners, 17:46.031 --> 17:48.901 we're talking about RFK, human rights and IP. 17:49.034 --> 17:51.904 LG, we're actually going to all of the eight 17:51.904 --> 17:56.041 operating detention facilities providing know your rights information, 17:56.108 --> 17:59.244 answering questions from the general group, and then meeting 17:59.244 --> 18:04.244 with people one on one for consultations about where their current case stands. 18:04.983 --> 18:07.252 So it's a really complicated process. 18:07.286 --> 18:10.923 Is there anything that people at home should definitely know about this? 18:12.424 --> 18:14.493 Everyone at home should understand 18:14.493 --> 18:17.696 that those individuals coming to the border, 18:18.263 --> 18:22.935 they believe that they're legally coming to this country for refuge. 18:23.368 --> 18:28.307 So there seems to be a disconnect in this country because a lot of people 18:28.307 --> 18:32.978 think those presenting themselves at the border are, quote, illegal. 18:33.278 --> 18:34.446 But you have to understand it 18:34.446 --> 18:37.616 from the perspective of people who have given up everything, 18:37.850 --> 18:41.086 who have gone through torture and torment to present themselves. 18:41.520 --> 18:46.520 They are saying, Hello, ice, I'm here because I would like to engage 18:47.259 --> 18:51.063 in a legal process when they're responded 18:51.163 --> 18:53.332 with being thrown in jail. 18:54.166 --> 18:56.802 They don't understand 18:57.269 --> 19:01.173 what else they should have done in order to seek refuge 19:01.340 --> 19:05.277 when they couldn't continue to survive in their home country. 19:05.911 --> 19:08.180 Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. 19:08.180 --> 19:10.182 It's been really interesting information. 19:10.549 --> 19:11.049 Thank you. 19:11.049 --> 19:16.049 Thank you so much. 19:23.862 --> 19:25.998 In the early 1900s, African Americans 19:25.998 --> 19:29.268 found themselves navigating new terrain on college campuses. 19:29.735 --> 19:33.205 Students organized underground networks that provided community service 19:33.205 --> 19:34.273 and camaraderie. 19:34.273 --> 19:35.641 Eventually, those networks 19:35.641 --> 19:39.244 expanded into nine fraternities and sororities called the Divine Nine. 19:39.711 --> 19:43.282 Tonight, we're excited to present the first episode in the special series 19:43.282 --> 19:46.985 A Crossing Over Black Greek Life 19:46.985 --> 19:49.988 1105. 19:50.389 --> 19:52.291 Hey, look 19:59.965 --> 20:03.001 came the Divine nine. 20:03.569 --> 20:08.440 I've heard about this organization my entire life, and I'm a bit of a legacy. 20:08.907 --> 20:11.310 My sister's a delta. My cousin's a Delta. 20:11.343 --> 20:13.111 My aunt's an AK. 20:13.111 --> 20:15.414 I could go on and on. 20:15.414 --> 20:18.250 But the truth is, even though I'm surrounded by this 20:18.250 --> 20:21.220 incredible culture, I only know the basics. 20:21.253 --> 20:22.888 And who could blame me? 20:22.888 --> 20:25.457 No one teaches you this in school. 20:25.457 --> 20:29.461 So to learn about this incredible culture, I called Todd Sterling. 20:29.861 --> 20:31.396 So what makes up the Divine Nine? 20:31.396 --> 20:34.366 The Divine Nine is the group of the nine black Greek letter 20:34.366 --> 20:37.569 organizations that make up the Divine nine. 20:37.603 --> 20:39.771 Why were these organizations founded? 20:39.771 --> 20:42.140 Wait, wait, wait. Time out. 20:42.674 --> 20:45.744 If you want to really understand the history of the Divine Nine, 20:45.911 --> 20:47.379 you need to take a step back. 20:47.379 --> 20:49.848 A couple steps back, actually. 20:49.848 --> 20:53.852 My name is Walter Kimbrough and I am the author of Black Greek One on 20:53.852 --> 20:57.723 one The Culture, Customs and Challenges of Black 20:57.723 --> 21:01.026 Fraternities and Sororities. 21:01.493 --> 21:04.963 This fraternity and sorority movement in the United States begins 21:04.963 --> 21:09.034 in 1776 with the founding of Phi Beta Kappa. 21:09.301 --> 21:12.604 It really sort of branches off from the literary societies 21:12.604 --> 21:16.808 that existed in higher education, but they served an even broader purpose. 21:17.042 --> 21:21.647 Like most things, at that point in time in American higher education, 21:21.647 --> 21:24.883 most of the students were white and upper middle class. 21:24.883 --> 21:26.752 There were very few black students, 21:26.752 --> 21:30.389 and they didn't really arrive to campus until the early 1800s. 21:30.889 --> 21:32.591 Why were these organizations founded? 21:32.591 --> 21:36.628 The organizations were originally founded because there were so few 21:36.628 --> 21:41.066 African-Americans going to college, and it gave African-American 21:41.233 --> 21:44.102 who were like minded, an opportunity to come together. 21:44.136 --> 21:48.040 It sounds to me like trying to create a network, a safe haven to be in 21:48.340 --> 21:49.875 at an all white university. 21:49.875 --> 21:50.909 Absolutely. 21:50.909 --> 21:54.980 That predominantly white university was Cornell in 1904. 21:55.013 --> 21:58.684 Six black students attended and they didn't come back the next year. 21:59.017 --> 22:03.488 So by 1906, new black students were desperate for community. 22:04.189 --> 22:06.391 Alpha Phi Alpha was the result. 22:06.858 --> 22:08.560 The Alpha Phi Alpha was founded 22:08.560 --> 22:13.265 December 4th, 1906, and it was founded by our Seven Jewels. 22:13.398 --> 22:15.600 Alpha Phi Alpha was just the beginning. 22:16.034 --> 22:20.138 After that, black fraternities started popping up in droves. 22:20.672 --> 22:23.842 Kappa Alpha PSI Incorporated, founded in 1911 22:23.842 --> 22:26.611 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. 22:27.212 --> 22:29.114 Omega Sci Fi Incorporated. 22:29.114 --> 22:31.750 Founded in 1911 at Howard University. 22:31.783 --> 22:33.685 Phi Beta Sigma Incorporated. 22:33.685 --> 22:36.621 Founded in 1914 at Howard University. 22:36.655 --> 22:38.857 I ordered Phi Theta Incorporated. 22:38.857 --> 22:43.857 Founded 1963 at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. 22:44.463 --> 22:48.033 Now, these organizations and the Divine Nine were just the ones that stuck. 22:48.734 --> 22:53.705 What if I told you there were actually dozens of black Greek life organizations? 22:53.939 --> 22:56.708 Let's check back in with our expert for some context. 22:56.842 --> 22:58.377 When we think about historically black 22:58.377 --> 23:02.280 fraternities and sororities a day, we hear the term the divine nine. 23:02.347 --> 23:05.350 So most people think there are only nine of these groups. 23:05.684 --> 23:08.553 In actuality, there have been over 70 23:08.820 --> 23:12.090 black fraternal organizations that have existed in the United States. 23:12.124 --> 23:15.327 They might be known as wine, sapphire or whiskey sour. 23:15.327 --> 23:19.197 Five others then might have more Afrocentric names 23:19.197 --> 23:22.200 and are now Swahili name like Malik Sigma PSI. 23:22.768 --> 23:24.069 Start off all Swahili. 23:24.069 --> 23:27.005 They added Greek letters later on as a part of what they did. 23:27.205 --> 23:28.340 So we focus a lot 23:28.340 --> 23:32.744 then on people who want to be part of the Divine Nine organizations. 23:33.011 --> 23:35.914 But of course, there's another aspect of black Greek life 23:35.914 --> 23:37.516 that I've been neglecting. 23:37.516 --> 23:42.020 It's the women's side de ville Essex is a 101 year old, a.k.a. 23:42.020 --> 23:45.991 from Louisiana, making her the oldest member in her chapter. 23:46.124 --> 23:48.493 So what year did you cross? 23:48.493 --> 23:49.628 I don't say cross. 23:49.628 --> 23:51.930 What year did I become an Alpha Kappa Kappa? 23:52.497 --> 23:55.801 It was in 1953. 23:57.035 --> 23:59.004 On May 2nd 23:59.004 --> 24:01.540 at Gramling Epsilon 24:01.540 --> 24:05.577 PSI Omega was the chapter there, 24:06.511 --> 24:09.781 and I was among the first women 24:10.148 --> 24:12.284 added to that charter chapter. 24:13.185 --> 24:16.354 I graduated from Grambling in 1945, 24:16.354 --> 24:19.191 and Greeks were not a part of Grambling at that time. 24:19.858 --> 24:22.294 I had been out of college 11 years 24:23.028 --> 24:25.664 when they graduate chapter after LaSalle 24:25.664 --> 24:28.834 Omega was chartered at Grambling. 24:29.000 --> 24:32.437 Well, if they didn't have any Greek activity 24:32.737 --> 24:37.737 on the Grambling University in 1945, how did you find out about a case. 24:37.943 --> 24:42.280 Where we had teachers, members of the faculty who were A.K. 24:42.280 --> 24:45.550 A's? And really, when they got ready to charter 24:45.550 --> 24:50.550 that chapter, they had to get women from Mendon Monroe 24:51.122 --> 24:55.560 in Shreveport to make the number for chartering. 24:56.461 --> 25:00.866 So I knew about it and I was inclined if you follow that. 25:01.199 --> 25:05.604 And when it came along, they invited me and I accepted. 25:06.104 --> 25:07.839 Yes. Suppose you were not invited. 25:07.839 --> 25:10.108 Would you be able to just sign up? No. 25:10.242 --> 25:14.779 Some some organism, Greek organizations, they can apply, 25:15.146 --> 25:17.949 but you have to be invited. 25:17.949 --> 25:19.284 And we are encouraged. 25:19.284 --> 25:21.920 Not say that you're going to invite. 25:21.953 --> 25:26.525 I wouldn't tell you I was going to invite you just in case the membership said no. 25:27.025 --> 25:29.494 Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first black sorority. 25:29.895 --> 25:32.531 It was founded by Ethel Hagin at Howard University. 25:33.064 --> 25:36.568 She gathered 12 other ladies to organize it, and it was modeled 25:36.568 --> 25:40.505 after both Alpha Phi, Alpha and White only women's organizations at Brown. 25:40.906 --> 25:45.410 Our theme service to All Mankind. 25:45.877 --> 25:49.414 You look at all people who need help and help them. 25:49.681 --> 25:54.019 But you have you carry yourself in such a way 25:54.219 --> 25:57.255 that those looking at you want to be like you. 25:57.822 --> 25:59.257 That's the basic thing. 25:59.257 --> 26:01.793 More sorority started after the case. 26:02.127 --> 26:04.129 Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated. 26:04.129 --> 26:07.032 Founded in 1913, Howard University. 26:07.132 --> 26:08.967 Zeta Phi Beta Incorporated. 26:08.967 --> 26:10.435 Founded 1920. 26:10.435 --> 26:13.705 Howard University Sigma Gamma Rowing, Inc.. 26:13.872 --> 26:17.042 Founded in 1922 at Butler University. 26:17.242 --> 26:20.011 Things have certainly changed since 1906. 26:20.512 --> 26:23.014 Black Greek membership is up, and it's not uncommon 26:23.014 --> 26:25.584 to find members in different parts of the world. 26:25.584 --> 26:27.719 I'm learning that this culture is rich. 26:27.919 --> 26:30.221 It's historic, and it's unique. 26:30.855 --> 26:33.291 Another example of Black Perseverance 26:35.060 --> 26:36.061 episodes of Crossing 26:36.061 --> 26:39.030 Over Black Greek Life will air on Fridays for the rest of this month. 26:39.264 --> 26:40.999 So I hope you guys stay tuned with us. 26:40.999 --> 26:42.033 Well, they made it happen. 26:42.033 --> 26:44.235 They were crusaders. They were definitely crusaders. 26:44.235 --> 26:45.103 They made a network. 26:45.103 --> 26:46.871 And it was very imperative for. 26:46.871 --> 26:49.074 Them that we keep on saying that. 26:49.074 --> 26:51.176 And everyone, that is our show for this week. 26:51.176 --> 26:52.711 Remember, you can watch anything 26:52.711 --> 26:56.648 live any time, wherever you are with our LP, the PBS. 26:56.648 --> 26:58.984 App, you can catch LP News and Public Affairs 26:58.984 --> 27:02.621 shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years. 27:02.621 --> 27:05.790 And please like us on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. 27:05.790 --> 27:08.360 So everyone here at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Andre Moore. 27:08.360 --> 27:11.196 And I'm Care sings here. 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