Alpha Phi Alpha boycotts Arizona

by: Rosi Efthim

Sat May 08, 2010 at 11:01:07 AM EDT

Bravo. But we also got word of protest closer to home. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity - with more than 3,000 members in New Jersey - is boycotting, pulling their annual convention from Phoenix and giving their business to Las Vegas. This is the oldest collegiate African American fraternity in the country, and counts among NJ members Ron C. Rice, who stands for re-election Tuesday as Newark West Ward Councilman, Princeton's Cornel West, and Randall Pinkett. Also Alphas: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thurgood Marshall.  Here's the  Alpha president:

Our late Alpha brother the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, in a letter he wrote while sitting in the Birmingham Jail, 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' Alpha Phi Alpha's decision to boycott Arizona continues that same fight, fought during the Civil Rights era. We will not only speak with our voices and our feet, we will speak with our economic clout; and we will not spend our money in Arizona and urge other organizations and people who believe in equality under the law, to do the same.

This year's convention includes a special Summit on the African-American Male, and is expected to draw up to 10,000 participants, revenue Arizona's now going to lose.

And here's a thing: if Alpha Phi Alpha keeps the same convention date for Las Vegas as they had in Phoenix, that puts them in Vegas the same time as Netroots Nation. And that's going to make Las Vegas one hot, hot, hot town in July.