The Evolution of Super Nupe – Part 4

“Every block, every hood, every city, every ghetto... need a Black Superhero!” Those lyrics are from the Robert Glasper song, Black Superhero.

Brother Williams is a music lover and collector who was inspired by this song. As he spoke at the podium, effortlessly leading a ballroom full of black achievers on a journey filled with knowledge, compassion, and affirmation, I found myself reflecting on many things. But there was one thing that I couldn’t shake, “man I wish I had created that visual!”

Don’t get me wrong, he had some nice visuals and even shared a bit of the song but in my mind all I could see was one thing. Something iconic that would depict our grand fraternity, its history, and its membership, which was being represented in real-time by this room full of real-life black superheroes. One of my favorite lines from Brother William’s speech comes after recalling his thoughts the first time he heard the song. “Even though I have a dog named T’Challa (after The Black Panther) I didn’t immediately think of the Black Panther, or Falcon, or Blade, or Luke Cage. My mind didn’t go there. My first thought was The NUPES!”

When I returned home, still basking in the afterglow of the year long celebration of our chapter’s centennial I couldn’t shake it. When I thought about my pops, a Sigma Chapter initiate (1953) or Kev’s pops, a Sigma Chapter initiate (1949), I couldn’t shake it. When I thought about Kappa and how every Nupe is a black superhero, I couldn’t shake it! So, even though it was after the fact, I needed to put pencil to paper, I still needed to create the visual.