Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated warmly welcomed four DYNAMIC women into Honorary Membership during its 54th National Convention on July 11, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. These four women were Sherrilyn Ifill, Eleanor Traylor, Sherrilyn Ifill, April Ryan and Andra Day. The women of Delta Sigma Theta are trailblazers within their respective communities and are known for uplifting and providing necessary public service to those within the Black Community. Delta Sigma Theta saw that these women embodied the characteristics of what it means to be a Delta Woman and selected these 4 women for Honorary Membership

 

Eleanor Traylor (86)

“Dr Eleanor Traylor was born December 12, 1933 in Thomasville, Georgia to Esther and Philip Williams. She graduated with her B.A. degree in English from Spelman College in 1955, and went on to receive her M.A. degree in English from Atlanta University in 1956. She also received a Merrill Scholarship to study at the University of Stuttgart in German in 1957. She later earned her Ph.D. degree in English from Catholic University of America in 1976.”

“Eleanor W. Traylor, Graduate Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at Howard University, is a scholar and critic in African-American literature and criticism. Her work has appeared in the form of chapter essays, biographies, articles, and papers on such writers as Larry Neal, Henry Dumas, Toni Cade Bambara, Margaret Walker, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and Richard Wright. She is the author of Broad Sympathy: The Howard University Oral Traditions Reader (1996), The Humanities and Afro-American Literary Tradition (1988), a multimedia piece entitled “The Dream Awake: A Spoken Arts Production” (1968), College Reading Skills (1966), and biographical and cultural scripts for the Smithsonian Institution’s Program in Black American Culture. Traylor has taught at Georgetown University, Tougaloo College, Cornell University, and others, and was the department chair for the U.S. Department of Agriculture English program. She has also held advisory roles with the D.C. Repertory Theater Company, the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Black Arts Festival, and Educators for the Advancement of African-American Literature in the (Public) Schools, which Traylor established.”

From 1959 to 1965, Traylor taught English courses at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She went on to become a professor of English at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, where she taught from 1965 to 1990. While there, Traylor was a collaborating author alongside Toni Morrison on the textbook, College Reading Skills. She also served as the English department chair for the graduate school of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Traylor taught as a guest lecturer at Georgetown University in 1966; as a visiting professor at the African Studies and Research Center of Cornell University in 1979; and as an adjunct professor of drama at Howard University in 1968, where she produced a dramatic reading of Owen Dodson’s The Dream Awake. In 1973, Traylor received a research fellowship to study African drama in Ghana and Nigeria. In 1990, she was hired as a graduate professor of English at Howard University. She also chaired the humanities division until 1993 when she was named chair of the Department of English at Howard University. As chair, Traylor established the annual Heart’s Day Conference which honored African Americans in literature. During her tenure at Howard University, Traylor co-wrote several textbooks, worked as a consultant on the film Amistad and directed the production of Stepping Out of the Negro Caravan in collaboration with George Faison, Debbie Allen and other Howard University alumni.

 

 

Sherrilyn Ifill (55)

“Sherrilyn Iffil was born Dec 17, 1963 and  is the youngest of 10 children. She  graduated from Vassar College in 1984 with a B.A. in English, and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1987. Ifill began her career as a Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union, before joining the staff of the LDF as an Assistant Counsel in 1988, where she litigated voting rights cases for five years. Sherrilyn Ifill is a civil rights lawyer who’s spent her career making sure black votes matter and fighting for a judicial system that is color blind. She litigated a voting rights case before the Supreme Court at the young age of 28 and today is the President of the NAACP Legal Defense”

“Sherrilyn Ifill is the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. LDF was founded in 1940 by legendary civil rights lawyer (and later Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall, and became a separate organization from the NAACP in 1957. The lawyers at the Legal Defense Fund developed and executed the legal strategy that led to the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, widely regarded as the most transformative and monumental legal decision of the 20th century. Ifill is the second woman to lead the organization.”

 

“In 1993 Ifill left LDF to join the faculty at University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore. Over twenty years, Ifill taught civil procedure and constitutional law to thousands of law students, and pioneered a series of law clinics, including one of the earliest law clinics in the country focused on challenging legal barriers to the reentry of ex-offenders. Ifill is also a prolific scholar who has published academic articles in leading law journals, and op-eds and commentaries in leading newspapers. Her 2007 book “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century,” was highly acclaimed, and is credited with laying the foundation for contemporary conversations about lynching and reconciliation. A 10th anniversary edition of the book was recently released with a Foreword by Bryan Stevenson, the acclaimed lawyer and founder of the national lynching memorial in Montgomery, AL.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“In 2013, Ifill was invited back to the Legal Defense Fund – this time to lead the organization as its 7th Director-Counsel. In that role, Ifill has increased the visibility and engagement of the organization in cutting edge and urgent civil rights issues, while maintaining the organization’s decades-long leadership fighting voter suppression, inequity in education, and racial discrimination in application of the death penalty. At critical moments during national unrest following the killing of unarmed African Americans by law enforcement officers, Ifill’s voice and vision framed the issue of policing reform and urban deprivation with powerful clarity in media appearances and public discussions. Her forceful and fact-based analysis of complex issues of racial justice has made her a sought-after speaker and strategist whose counsel is sought by government officials, civic and community leaders, and national civil rights colleagues.”

“She has received honorary doctorates from New York University, Bard College, Fordham Law School and CUNY Law School. She serves on the board of the National Women’s Law Center, the National Constitution Center and on the Advisory board for the Profiles in Courage Award. She is a past chair of U.S. board of the Open Society Foundations, one of the largest philanthropic supporters of civil rights and liberties in the country.”

Some of her more recent publications can be found below

5/17/2019 – Defending Brown and the Rule of Law (Bloomberg Law)

5/14/2019 – Brown v. Board at 65: Sherrilyn A. Ifill on Why We All Need to Know More About the Brave Black Students Who Integrated Schools in the 1950s (The 74)

5/12/2019 – If judicial nominees don’t support ‘Brown v. Board,’ they don’t support the rule of law (The Washington Post)

12/18/2018 – It’s time to face the facts: Racism is a national security issue (The Washington Post)

11/13/2018 – When Trump attacks one black woman, we all feel it (The Washington Post)

8/20/2018 – How the South Memorializes — and Forgets — Its History of Lynching (TIME)

Books

A Perilous Path: Talking Race, Inequality, and the Law (2018)

On the Courthouse Lawn (2007)

 

April Ryan (51)

April Ryan was born September 5, 1967 in Baltimore Maryland. She is a native of the cities and went on to attend college at Morgan State University. She has been a White House Correspondent for 22 years beginning her career in 1997 under the Bill Clinton Administration.

“White House Correspondent, April Ryan, has a unique vantage point as the only black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House – a position she has held since the Clinton era.  On behalf of the American Urban Radio Networks, and through her “Fabric of America” news blog, she delivers her readership and listeners (millions of African Americans and close to 300 radio affiliates) a “unique urban and minority perspective in news.” Her position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her unusual insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation’s last presidents.”

“April can be seen almost daily on television as a political analyst on such programs as Outfront with Erin Burnett, CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Real Time with Bill Maher  (among others).”

“April Ryan has served on the board of the prestigious White House Correspondents Association. She is one of only three African Americans in the Association’s over 100-year history to serve on its board. She is also an esteemed member of the National Press Club.  In 2015, Ms. Ryan was nominated for an NAACP Image Award (Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author) for her first book. Shortly after, she became the 2017 National Association of Black Journalists Journalist of the Year. This year she was recognized as the 2019 Freedom of the Press Award Winner by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.”

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​“April Ryan is the author of the award winning book, THE PRESIDENCY IN BLACK AND WHITE, and, AT MAMA’S KNEE: MOTHERS AND RACE IN BLACK AND WHITE, where she looks at race relations through the lessons and wisdom that mothers have given their children. Her newest release, UNDER FIRE: REPORTING FROM THE FRONT LINES OF THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE, has taken America by storm with an in depth look at her ludicrous journey as a reporter during the current Trump Administration.”

Andra Day (34)

Andra Day was Cassandra Monique Batie on December 30 1984 in Spokane Washington. At a young age her family relocated to Southern California where she thrived and pursued her passions for the arts to include singing as well as dancing.

“She is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Cheers to the Fall, was released in 2015 and peaked at number 48 on the US Billboard 200 chart. At the 2016 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best R&B Album and the album’s main single, “Rise Up”, was nominated for Best R&B Performance. Day also appeared in alongside Steve Wonder, who is partially, credited for her discovery, in an ad for Apple TV in late 2015.”

“Andra Day has been gifted with a brassy yet alluring voice that is as powerful as it is expressive. The San Diego native attended a performing arts high school while working with various producers to develop   her musical style. When a tape of a live performance found its way to Stevie Wonder, he was blown away and soon introduced her to songwriter-producer Adrian Gurvitz (The Bodyguard). Day and Gurvitz spent the next year working on her debut album with what she calls a “retro-pop-soul” sound (“a blend of jazz, soul, doo-wop, plus a little bit of rock, and hip-hop on the underbelly,” she says) with an alluring, powerful alto that has inspired comparison to Amy Winehouse and Adele.”

“With a vintage flair and voice for the ages, Andra has been described as “possessed by the ghost of Billie Holiday,” boasting flawless jazz chops that she can apply to her varied musical influences with equal ease. Available in stores now, her debut album Cheers to the Fall is a candid 13-song tale about truth, fearlessness, vulnerability, forgiveness and love and serves as “a biography in the form of soul music.”  Reflecting the LP’s theme of resilience through struggle, the crown jewel of the album is the universally timeless ‘Rise Up’, which Andra describes as “a song about any type of relationship.” She says, “I look at all of us as brothers and sisters and a body working together. ‘Rise Up’ is saying one piece isn’t better than the other, and when one part is struggling, I’m going to help and lift you up. I will rise up with you.”

                                 

Congratulations Sorors and welcoming to the beautiful sisterhood that is Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated we embrace you with open and loving arms.

 

Remember To Always Be

Fierce and Fabulous

xoxo Lela Victoria