Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.’s Founders Day is always meaningful for me and all Omega men across the world. Founders’ Day is also the anniversary of my becoming an Omega, but this year is my line’s 25th anniversary! Thinking about Wednesday, November 17, 2000 hits differently this year.
Back then I was just a kid from Mobile, Alabama, standing on the threshold of adulthood, crossing into a brotherhood I only knew a small amount about. I had no ideas what life would look like 25 years later. Truthfully, I didn’t start imagining life in decades until my children were born. Parenthood stretches your vision further down the road.
2025 Founders Day, I wasn’t out singing fraternity songs and setting out marches with brothers along the Mississippi Gulf Coast the way I have for the past ten years. This time, I was at home. My wife had made a a shrimp and sausage bisque; we talked about the expansion of PRIME baseball, watched a show, and I eventually fell asleep on the couch — the kind of sleep that only comes from peace.
Later that night, after getting up and taking a bath, I ended the day with a call from my prophyte, Fall ’98, Hubert Jackson. We talked about a lot, but a phrase that I shared during that conversation has stayed with me:
“Everything does not deserve 100% of you.”
Hubert, better known as Burt, followed that therapeutically aware phrase with scripture: “No man can serve two masters.”
Let that marinate.
Time, Talent, Treasure — and Perspective
As I write this, I’m reflecting on what I’ve invested into organizations, jobs, and projects over the years. I’ve poured out creativity, energy, and leadership in more directions than I can count. Some things were worth it. Some things weren’t. But all of it taught me something.
And the older I get, the clearer one thing becomes:
Shalon, McRae, and Jaxon deserve my 100%.
Everything else — the businesses, the work, the Bruhz, the ideas — will get what they can get. And frankly, my “fractional” effort is still better than some people’s 100%. Not out of arrogance, but out of the reality that I have spent more than two and a half decades sharpening my craft, my purpose, and my discipline.
But even with that, I am reminded of something deeper — something rooted in an African proverb I’ve carried for years:
“Many hands make light work.”
When people work together with loyalty, initiative, and cooperation, even the heaviest load becomes manageable.
A Brotherhood That Shows the Sermon
On Saturday, November 15, Sigma Alpha Alpha Chapter celebrated Achievement Week by honoring community members and fraternity brothers who truly embody our cardinal principles. I served as DJ, provided uplighting, and worked pre- and post-event as an announcer. Other brothers served as speakers, greeters, planners, and workers behind the scenes.
Everything worked because everyone contributed in the way they were gifted to contribute.
It reminded me of one of my favorite poems, “Sermons We See” by Edgar Guest. The opening lines say:
“I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way.”
And that’s it.
That’s the whole point.
Purpose doesn’t live in speeches alone — it lives in action.
Legacy isn’t what you say — it’s what your life shows.
Guest writes later:
“One deed of kindness noticed is worth forty that are told.”
That line always grabs me. Because as a father, a husband, a brother, and a man trying to lead with integrity, I know my sons are watching. I hope they see the sermon I’m attempting to preach with my life.
Where I Stand Today
Twenty-five years after the “6 Wonders of The World That Resurrected The Mother Pearl” probate show on the patio of Warren Hall at Tougaloo College, I am reflective, emotional, and profoundly grateful. I have endured things that could have broken me: the loss of both parents before I became a parent myself, seasons of doubt, mistakes made in youth, moments where I could’ve been lost to the world.
But by God’s grace — and the prayers of my ancestors — I’m still here.
Still standing.
Still serving.
Still learning what deserves my full heart.
And I know now more than ever what my priorities are, what my purpose is, and who I’m becoming.
Everything doesn’t deserve 100% of me.
But the things that do — my family, my faith, my purpose — will always get the very best of me.
And I pray that my sons, as they grow into men, see more than what I say.
I pray they see the sermon in how I live.
About the Author
George “Chuck” Patterson is a creative strategist, civic organizer, and cultural storyteller based in Mississippi. He serves as Co-Founder and Board President of Mississippi MOVE, Inc., and Chief Experience and Design Officer at Black With No Chaser. His work centers on community, family, faith, and the everyday actions that shape legacy. Patterson is a devoted husband and father who believes the most powerful sermons are lived, not spoken.
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