Comprehensive Study Guide to SISTUHS, Incorporated

Organizational Background and History

• Founding Date: December 3, 1992

• Founders: Sistuh Akhiba Jackson and Sistuh Germain Smith-Baugh

• Rites of Passage (ROP):

  • Defined as a spiritual, mental, and social transformation from one standpoint to the next.

  • Specifically designed to enhance a prospective member, providing instruction and teaching on how to meet one's needs and purpose.

Progressive Black Men, Inc.

• Founding Date: November 27, 1989

• Founding Location: Florida State University

• Motto: Collective knowledge, collective effort, collective strength

• Official Colors: Emerald green and black

• Organizational Purpose: To reconstruct and redefine the image of the black male through volunteer work, humanitarian, and community service

Organizational Foundations and Traditions

• SISTUHS Poem:

  • Founding Poem: Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

  • Amended Poem: Ego Tripping by Nikki Giovanni

• Official Artwork: Sisters of the Sun by Carl Owens

• SISTUHS Song: Written by Sistuh Vanessa Harrington

The Ten Objectives of SISTUHS, Inc.

• Objective 1: Promote spiritual growth (aligned with Spirituality)

• Objective 2: Promote personal growth and develop knowledge of thyself (aligned with Strength)

• Objective 3: Promote a positive image of African American women, and anything that positively enhances the survival and well-being of African American women (aligned with Health)

• Objective 4: Seek guidance from elder African American women (aligned with Tenacity)

• Objective 5: Foster an environment amongst ourselves that is conducive to learning about the history, and role African American women have played and continue to play in developing this and other nations (aligned with Strength)

• Objective 6: Develop local leadership to respond to community needs, particularly those of African American women (aligned with Initiative)

• Objective 7: Provide moral and educational guidance to other young African American women in the community (aligned with Tenacity)

• Objective 8: Provide unity among people of color (aligned with Unity)

• Objective 9: Provide opportunities to educate ourselves as well as the community on political issues that affect the well-being of African American women (aligned with Initiative)

• Objective 10: Provide encouragement and support to African American men (aligned with Unity)

Core Value: Strength

• Associated Objectives: Objectives $2$ and $5$

• Verbatim Definition: enduring series of trials and tests from which you grow from

• Associated Color: Green

  • Connected to Keneth cloth

  • Symbolizes seasons of new life, growth, vegetation, and fertility

  • Represents the most basic and fundamental ingredient to life

• Associated Number: $12$

  • 12 stars in the Nubia

  • Symbolizes divine government

  • Signifies that the Children of Israel are divided into $12$ tribes

• Historical Figure Representation: Araminta Ross (Harriet Tubman)

  • Born in the year $1819$

  • Returned to Maryland ("marty maryland") to free members of her family after successfully escaping

  • Executed $11$ trips from Maryland to Canada

  • Completed a total of $19$ trips, rescued over $300$ people, and never lost a single passenger

Core Value: Initiative

• Associated Objectives: Objectives $6$ and $9$

• Verbatim Definition: Taking the first step; the ability to assess and initiate things independently

• Associated Color: Purple

  • Represents power, nobility, luxury, and royalty

  • Directly associated with wisdom

• Associated Number: $1$

  • Designates that there is $1$ president per chapter

  • Symbolizes Undivided Unity

  • Embodied in the Circle of Affirmation: as a circle is never-ending, the love for SISTUHS is never-ending

• Historical Figure Representation: Sarah Breedlove (Madame C.J. Walker)

  • Born on December 23, 1897 in Delta, Louisiana

  • Distinguished as the first member of her family born free

  • Worked for $\$1.50$ in order to educate her daughter

  • Became the first African American millionaire of any race through her own independent efforts

  • Invented an original line of African American hair products after realizing there were none appropriate on the market

Core Value: Spirituality

• Associated Objective: Objective $1$

• Verbatim Definition: Focusing on the spirit or the soul, evangelizing spiritual practice ("enuangelizing Spirtual pratice"), or celebrating God or god(s), any divine power, traditional or otherwise; being connected to the essence of self, others, and life

• Associated Color: Gold

  • Represents the Sun

  • Symbolizes stability, maintenance of culture and the organization, efficiency ("effiency"), and dependability

• Associated Number: $7$

  • Represents the number of acronyms in SISTUHS

  • Represents the number of letters in advisor

  • Represents the rays of the Sun

• Historical/Biblical Figure Representation: Deborah

  • Held several prominent roles of religious integrity, serving as a prophet, judge, military leader, and musician

  • Holds the distinction of being the only woman who served as both prophet and judge alongside two other men in Israel's history—Moses and Samuela

Core Value: Tenacity

• Associated Objectives: Objectives $4$ and $7$

• Verbatim Definition: Holding firmly, persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired

• Associated Color: Indigo

  • The extraction process of indigo dye is highly complicated and involves extensive labor

  • Plants are soaked in a vat or sloping tank

  • Continuous extraction requires $2$ to $3$ people to get into a tank and paddle the water continuously for $2$ to $3$ days

• Associated Number: $3$

  • Embodies the triangle, which is the first geometric figure

  • Represents that which is solid, real, substantial, complete, and entire

  • Identified as the first geometric figure capable of being fitted into a circle

• Historical Figure Representation: Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (noted as Mary Jade Mcleod Mayesville)

  • Born on July 10, 1875 in Maryland, South Carolina (Mayesville)

  • Relocated to Florida to teach matters pertaining to the head, hand, and heart

  • Appointed and served as Counselor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt (noted as "Couselor to F.D. Bicosevelt")

Core Value: Unity

• Associated Objectives: Objectives $8$ and $10$

• Verbatim Definition: The state or quality of being in accord, harmony; undividable, indivisible

• Associated Color: Black

  • Associated with power, elegance, sophistication, wealth, and mystery

  • Possesses the unique property of absorbing all colors; warm although neutralized

• Associated Number: $2$

  • Symbolizes unity, defined as one plus another

  • Directly honors the $2$ organizational founders

  • Represents duality in its most basic forms

  • Embodies the $2$ primary symbols: the Ankh and the Pyramid

• Historical Figure Representation: Isabella Baumfree (Sojourner Truth)

  • Stood as one of the earliest and most passionate abolitionists

  • Gained historic fame for delivering the speech Ain't I A Woman? while serving as a traveling preacher

  • Dedicated her entire life to advocating for women's rights and anti-slavery movements

Core Value: Health

• Associated Objective: Objective $3$

• Verbatim Definition: Physical, spiritual, and mental well-being; not merely the freedom from disease, but the state of harmony within one's self and between one's environment

• Associated Color: Red

  • Symbolizes energy, war, danger, strength, and power

  • Represents cleansing and revival originating from ancient Egypt

  • Signifies determination, passion, and danger

• Associated Number: $5$

  • Directly associated with biological phenomena, including toes, fingers, senses, and appendages

  • Aligns with the five elected officials within the organization

• The Six Dimensions of Health:

  • Physical

  • Spiritual

  • Environmental

  • Social

  • Intellectual

  • Emotional

• Distinguished Contemporary Representation: Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green

  • Achieved distinction as the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Physics

  • Developed an advanced cancer treatment utilizing lasers and nanotechnology to kill cancer cells in mice

  • Deeply intertwined her life's purpose into the overarching mission of the organization

National Structure, Events, and Programs

• National Conference:

  • Held bi-annually

  • Serves to conduct the national business of SISTUHS, INC.

  • Functions as the platform to hold organizational elections

  • Enforces a mandatory chapter participation threshold of at least $35\%$

• National Leadership:

  • Convened annually in the month of May

  • Dedicated specifically to training the Executive Board

  • Mandatory attendance required for all appointed Executive Board members, Membership Coordinators, and Elders

• National Programs (The 5 Pillars):

  • Economic prosperity

  • Equality and human rights

  • Health and equity

  • Environmental well-being

  • Strengthen our SISTUH-hood