REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE OF DR. RALPH J. BRYSON
Conference, Journal of Kappa Alpha Psi, Vol., CVII, Issue 3. Dr. Bryson was extremely astute as a professor, histo- rian, literary scholar, and Kappa who adequately knew the value of love, time and commitment within the context of achievement underscored by fraternity, knowledge and fidelity. Brother Bryson cultivated, exempli- fied, and perfected the spirit of gener- osity, time and time again acting with kindness, being open and willing to share with brothers & others without any expectation of receiving something in return. Brother Bryson like Kappa Alpha Psi taught us how to fall in love with a gen- eration that we will never know and will never know us. And for this worthwhile gift, we cherish, honor and proclaim our sheer gratitude noting our love and affec- tion for Brother Dr. Ralph Joseph Bryson does not stop here with this publication and evocative tribute, but shall unabash- edly continue as each of us affirms and blesses his name and soul all the days of our lives. φν π Reflections of Brother Dr. Ralph J. Bryson from the Council of Past Grand Polemarchs Dr. Bryson’s service to our dear fraternity intersects with the several administrations of Kappa Alpha Psi Fra- ternity. Next are what the living Grand Polemarchs of Kappa Alpha Psi had to say about him.
mind’. He possessed a rare competence, cognitive, philosophical and social skillset of meeting human brotherhood and sisterhood where he discovered them in life with regard to status, history, language and perspective. Intuitively, Dr. Bryson’s mastery of connecting & recon- necting with his students, colleagues, peers and fellow Kappa brothers was a natural. After Dr. Bryson listened to his students, colleagues, peers or his fellow Kappa brother’s conversation for a while, he became an interlocutor and eloquent- ly expressed his thoughts, wisdom and sagacious opinion of an idea or subject in question to include the given topic of the hour or day. Yet, while his inclusive, erudite and thoughtfulness was always present and accounted for during a per- sonal encounter, his enormous modesty was never absent when discussing litera- ture, social justice, the history of Kappa Alpha Psi® or the function of education as a vocation. Without question, cultural and intellectual humility were character tenets that he rationally embraced as a professor, historian, literary scholar, and Kappa man extraordinaire because those two attributes always facilitated in his becoming the very best version of himself. Dr. Bryson and I spent the last fifteen (15) years consistently communicating through holiday cards, letters, his annual calendar and countless recorded tele- phone conversations which included ex- tensive dialogue about & with his Ohio State University Doctoral classmate and 4th President of Dillard University
Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook; Brother Dr. Ames W. Chapman (brother to long- time Southwestern Province Polemarch Carlyle H. Chapman; Grand Historian, 7th Elder Watson Diggs Awardee & 42nd Laurel Wreath Recipient Brother Dr. William L. Crump; our 8th Grand Polemarch Dr. Jesse Jerome Peters, M.D.; several of our Founders; our 15th Grand Polemarch W. Henry “Stud” Greene, M.D. up through to our 34th Grand Polemarch Reuben A. Shelton, III., Esq. Of course, we often connected & reconnected with one another dating back as early as 1999 at the 74th Grand Chapter Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. We’d often discuss literary works such as James Baldwin’s The Price of the Ticket or Albert Camus’ The Myth of Si- syphus. Dr. Bryson would say “Baldwin’s Price of the Ticket was about exploring what it meant to be born black, impov- erished, gay and gifted in a world that has yet to understand that all men are brothers whereas Sisyphus taught us to never give in or up to circumstantial dis- appointments or try to escape from the failures, rather accept failures the same way we accept our achievements. And most importantly, no matter how much we lose in our quest, we must never back down until we fulfill our potential”. Our very last interview together was the cover story of The Journal of Kappa Alpha Psi titled Remembering the 16 th Grand Polemarch and 19 th Laurel Wreath Laureate: Celebrating 60 Years of the C. Rodger Wilson Leadership
The array of the Council of Past Grand Polemarchs.
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