Howard University Creative Piece

From Alma Mater Vol. 2: The Northeast
Available Now for only 99 cents!

*Howard University*

Step. Step like the Alphas. Alphas like Martin Luther King who walked. Then walked up the steps of Lincoln Memorial to give Howard the dream to jump into. Step. Step into the Howard Experience. Then take a step back into Founders Library to reflect. Reflecting back on the activists who by activating their dreams—made The Dream our reality. The lineage of the Howard dream runs deep—don’t sleep. Every time we wake to Reslife it’s thanks to past lives. Lives that made change by making sense, in the past they fought on so now we can change it to present tense: This is the life. And Patricia Bath, Cathy Hughes, Edward Brooke, Sharon Kelly, Emma Gillett, H. Naylor Fitzhugh, and Zora Neale Hurston are only some of the names that made it. Before they made it out there, they made it in here. Bison like Alexander Darnes went from the cornfield to practicing in the medical field and now every First Friday the Greeks are on the grass where they have their own tree but they still branch out to Stomp the Yard without a DJ—Stomp the Yard without a “DJ.” Out here where to the pretty girls you hear the Kappas sayin’, “Yo, Baby, Yo, Baby, Yo!” And to them Pretty Boys you hear the ladies sayin’, “Yo, Baby, Yo, Baby, Yo!” At the Quad I heard somebody say, “What you call a freshman introduced to the Booty Wall? Ms. New Booty.” Then I heard ’em say, “Girl, get off that Booty Wall so we can see what’s shakin’!” What’s the move tonight? Because after all these bad lines we bound for some good times. Any time our people get together it’s ’bout to be a good time. Gettin’ it in at The Punchout, Blackburn & the Café; UGL, Ho-Chi, it’s crackin’ every day. Crackin’ like a sidewalk—we steppin’ every day; Crackin’ like a sidewalk, we steppin’ every day. Step. Step into a movement that started after the Civil War and into the Civil Rights movement. An object in motion is hard to stop. Bison in motion is when it’s time to step. Get the steppin’ like the Parade, and this Homecoming makes ya’ll shit fade. Step. Homecoming makes the Alums step back. Nah, not to reflect but to step back and relive…Welcomed back to the dream that today we live. Rep. Rep this school, Showtime. Rep our style, Fashion Show—show ’em what we in; The exclusive line of fashion—they can’t get in. At the Fashion Show we take the show and put it on, tryna rock with us—stop the jokes and puttin’ on. Homecoming is the shit—intestines of Ben’s Chili; ya’ll can do it better? lol, oh really? Concerts of R&B, Reggae, & Yardfest, and when it comes to steppin’, ya’ll know who does it best. At Homecoming, it’s not fraternities and sororities…it’s Brothers and Sisters. Brothers and Sisters in their home, and together, they tear the house down. It is under the Homecoming spotlight where the Divine Nine shines. AKAs out here doin’ the most….the beauty of these sisters is a Service to All Mankind. All the girls—they blow it up. And everybody loves it when the Deltas throw it up—That’s a Love Triangle. The Zetas tell ’em “Step Off!” as they step on stage then show off. They livin’ the life of the Blue and White, and the Sigmas know about that…yeah, they about that life. The Sigmas are Here! Fresh in that Blue and White! Like twins starin’ in a mirror—show ’em what Brotherhood looks like. Once them Kanes in the air, the Kappas hold it down: ♫Hold it down, hold it down: The Nupes hold it down! Hold it down, hold it down, The Nupes hold it down!♫ Put that in Hilltop: The Nupes are at the mount; other steppers who show up—go down for the hard Kount. Then the Outlaws step so cold—it’s set to North Dakota, they steal the whole show when they give ’em one Iota. ♫Dawg♫ Que Dogs—Gold Boots Stompin’! Que Dogs—Gold Boots Stompin’! Atomic Dog goes off and it’s Calling All Ques! The need for real men on stage was the cue. Omega Men—Calling All Ques. The need for real men on stage was the cue. At the end of it all it’s all family getting together at the crib….whose crib? Any crib. House parties keep runnin’ on Homecoming. All the alums around the world—keep runnin’ to Homecoming. The energy of the Bison is runnin’ on Homecoming. Washington, D.C. and College America: we runnin’ on Homecoming. And every step we take, like this heritage we helped make, like our Founders whose drive wouldn’t break—will be together. Homecoming brings Howard together. To a campus we made together. This is a campus that sits together like these very words. Remains close like these very words. Share the D.C. dream. Come share the Howard experience. Then, like this school and our patented move…you, too, will stand apart, when on these grounds, you

Step.