For its fifth year, members of the Iota Nu chapter of Omega Psi Phi dedicated several copies of a book to Harford County Public Library's Abingdon branch, a new Black History Month tradition for the fraternity, on Feb. 4.
"Born to Rebel," an autobiography of Benjamin E. Mays, not only represents the accomplishments of one of Omega Psi Phi's brothers, but also exemplifies the universal story of overcoming obstacles to achieve a dream.
"The book speaks to the struggles he had when he was a youngster growing up as a sharecropper's son in South Carolina," chapter basileus Dwayne Adams said.
"Rebel" follows Dr. Mays from his childhood in an area where racism was prevalent through to his success as president of Morehouse College in Atlanta and the first African-American on the city's board of education.
Marco Clark, a member of Omega Psi Phi and the CEO of the Richard Wright Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., was a featured guest speaker at the book dedication event at the library.
He spoke of the impact Dr. Mays' story had on his life and the struggles he endured as a child.
Adams explained that Clark was told by a guidance counselor early in his life that he was functionally illiterate, a stigma that would follow him through school, even though it would prove to be incorrect.
Clark, much like Dr. Mays, worked through this obstacle, and moved onto college. It was a professor at Clark Atlanta University who diagnosed him with a comprehensive reading problem, not illiteracy as was originally believed. Clark went on to earn two master's degrees and a doctorate.
His message is a great example of what Dr. Mays' autobiography is about, Adams said.
"Don't let obstacles get in your way. Don't let someone's opinion of you shape who you are," he explained. "You have to make that positive change."
Adams hopes that this message will affect the young people who attended the event, including his two sons and their high school classmates, and everyone who reads "Rebel."
"Know your shortcomings and address those so they make you a well rounded, better person," he said.
The four other books the Iota Nu chapter has dedicated in past years all deal with similar themes — "accomplishments of notable Omega men" who "contribute to society and America," Adams said, something the fraternity also hopes to do.
Promoting these messages of community service and becoming positive role models will live on in the books Omega Psi Phi dedicates simply because, as Adams put it, "you never stop reading."