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Black Fraternity, Police Officer Face Million-Dollar Lawsuit

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Harry Draughn, Jr.

Harry Draughn, Jr.

by Khari Arnold
Special to NNPA from Howard University News Service

WASHINGTON – Kappa Alpha Psi, one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious black fraternities, is facing multi-million dollar lawsuits for hazing, the latest by a 45-year-old Washington man who claims he was paddled and beaten with a cane by members, including a Prince George’s County police officer.

Harry Draughn Jr., filed a $2 million lawsuit Tuesday (March 31) against Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and its member, police officer Jesse Stewart Jr., after allegedly being hazed during as a spring 2015 pledge of the Hyattsville/Landover Alumni Chapter of the fraternity, according to court documents.

Kappa Alpha Psi is already facing a $4 million lawsuit filed against it, its Baltimore alumni chapter and several members in January for allegedly hazing another man.

As a result of the new lawsuit, Stewart, 49, who served as the dean of the intake process for the Hyattsville/Landover alumni chapter, has been charged with a misdemeanor and suspended pending an investigation, Prince George’s County Police Chief Mark Magaw said.

“When one of our officers is accused of wrongdoing, we take those allegations seriously,” Magaw said in a statement. “The Prince George’s County Police Department holds our officers to high standards, whether they are on or off duty.”

Stewart, a 21-year member of the police department, faces up to five years in prison on misdemeanor reckless endangerment charges.

Court documents state the hazing began in February when Draughn and his line brothers were brought to Stewart’s garage to be smacked, hit, caned and paddled.

Pledges were also brought inside Stewart’s home, where they rubbed lotion on the off-duty officer as he sat in a kitchen chair, according to the complaint. Draughn also claims he was required to do tasks around Stewart’s home in his underwear.

Draughn’s suit claims he suffered emotional anguish and humiliation.

“I think it’s just degrading,” Draughn said in an interview. “When we signed up for Kappa Alpha Psi, we signed documents saying there wouldn’t be any hazing.”

Draughn also said Stewart asked him inappropriate sexual questions.

In September of 2014, the fraternity placed a national moratorium on membership intake for its undergraduate and alumni chapters amid hazing issues. The moratorium was lifted in January for graduate chapters.

“When they lifted it, they did not change any policies or procedures,” said Draughn’s attorney, Jimmy Bell. “That is mind-boggling. You admit that you have a problem and you don’t correct it, and then the very next month my client’s getting hazed.”

Stewart, the Kappa Alpha Psi headquarters in Philadelphia, the Kappa Alpha Psi Grand Polemarch (National President) William “Randy” Bates Jr. did not return phones calls seeking comment.

Draughn alleges that Stewart first hazed him in February, but it was a March 23 incident that caused him to file suit.

“Since the beating on March 23, 2015, plaintiff has had to sit on a pillow while driving and is suffering from lower back pain, has not been able to sleep and has felt depressed,” the lawsuit claims.

After he’d had enough, Draughn said that he complained to the fraternity and asked that the $3,000 he paid to join the organization be refunded, but his request was denied.

“We never thought that we were paying $3,000 to join a gang,” he said. “That’s not what we signed up for.”

Bell said he has been a member of Kappa Alpha Psi for 30 years.  He said he never endured hazing when he joined.  Hazing among fraternities, black and white, was common during that era.  The situation is different today, Bell said.

“Here’s the difference between now and then: It is against the law,” he said. “I’m doing what’s right so hopefully they’ll still be around in the next 50 years. It’s better to take a (financial) hit and change your policies than to not exist anymore.”

Bell said he believes that until the better measures are put in place by leaders of fraternities and other organization, injuries, deaths, like the one at Florida A&M University, and subsequent lawsuits will continue to happen.

“It’s a social organization,” he said. “Nobody should get hurt pledging.”

###

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Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

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To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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NPRC Joins National Grand Jury Proceedings Seeking Accountability, Constitutional Restoration

Organizers state that testimony will explore historical and political developments that they believe have contributed to the expansion of corporate influence over public institutions and governmental decision-making. Participants are expected to discuss concerns regarding constitutional governance, individual liberties, property rights, and the protection of vulnerable populations, including seniors and persons with disabilities.

Published

on

Photo by Billie Powers.
Photo by Billie Powers.

Special to The Post

The National Probate Reform Coalition (NPRC) has joined Toll and Roll and a growing coalition of advocacy organizations, victims, whistleblowers, and citizen groups in support of a nationally broadcast People’s Grand Jury proceeding scheduled for July 1 and July 7.

Organizers describe the event as a public forum designed to examine allegations of government abuse, judicial misconduct, legislative failures, and the erosion of constitutional protections affecting millions of Americans.

The proceedings will feature testimony from victims, families, advocates, and organizations from across the country who contend they have experienced harm through government actions, institutional neglect, and failures of oversight.

According to organizers, the People’s Grand Jury will focus on concerns involving probate courts, guardianships, conservatorships, child welfare systems, property rights, civil liberties, and what participants view as a growing disconnect between government institutions and the constitutional rights of the people they are sworn to serve.

NPRC is participating because many of the issues being examined mirror the concerns raised by advocates, victims, and families who have participated in its monthly town halls. For years, families have reported cases involving exploitation of elders, questionable guardianships, estate depletion, denial of due process, and a lack of meaningful oversight within probate court systems.

“This proceeding gives victims and advocates an opportunity to place their experiences on the public record,” said Tanya Dennis, lead facilitator of NPRC. “For too long, families have struggled to have their voices heard regarding elder abuse, probate exploitation, and government inaction. This forum allows those stories to be shared before a national audience.”

Organizers state that testimony will explore historical and political developments that they believe have contributed to the expansion of corporate influence over public institutions and governmental decision-making. Participants are expected to discuss concerns regarding constitutional governance, individual liberties, property rights, and the protection of vulnerable populations, including seniors and persons with disabilities.

In keeping with principles of transparency and fairness, invitations have been extended to legislators, members of the judiciary, law enforcement representatives, and other public officials who may wish to respond to concerns raised during the proceedings or defend actions taken by their respective institutions.

One of the primary outcomes sought by organizers is public consideration and support for the People’s Remedy and Restoration Act, a proposed legislative framework that advocates believe would strengthen oversight, increase accountability, provide remedies for victims of governmental abuse, and restore constitutional protections.

The proceedings are expected to be broadcast nationally, providing citizens throughout the United States an opportunity to observe testimony, review evidence presented, and participate in an ongoing conversation regarding government accountability and the protection of individual rights.

Advocates hope the hearings will encourage meaningful dialogue, legislative reform, and renewed public engagement in the democratic process.

Individuals, organizations, public officials, and members of the media interested in attending or obtaining access information may contact the organizers at tollandroll2025@gmail.com.

As Americans continue to debate the future of constitutional governance, judicial accountability, and the protection of vulnerable citizens, the July proceedings are expected to serve as a significant forum for public testimony and civic engagement. For more information, go to https://tollandroll.com

Continue Reading

Activism

50 Years Later, ‘Wake Up Everybody!’ Still Resonates During Black Music

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

Published

on

iStockphoto.
iStockphoto.

By Hazel Trice Edney, Special to The Post

Hazel Trice Edney

Hazel Trice Edney

“Wake up, everybody, No more sleepin’ in bed

No more backward thinkin’. Time for thinkin’ ahead

The world has changed so very much from what it used to be.

There is so much hatred, war, and poverty. 

The world won’t get no better If we just let it be. 

Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw.

The world won’t get no betterWe gotta change it, yeah– just you and me.”

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

In a rare, nearly somber moment, the group’s celebrated lead singer, Teddy Pendergrass, introduced the song on Soul Train, the weekly dance and live performance TV show that aired roughly between 1971 and 2006. Pendergrass told the attentive live audience and thousands watching by television that Wake Up Everybody, the title tune of their most recent album, was intended to inspire people to take action with a goal to change America for the better.

“I’m sure that you will all agree that there are things that need to be done in this country today,” he said. “So, what I’d like for you to do is listen very carefully to see what you can do to lend a hand.”

The song’s appeal worked.

“I played that song over and over and over again because it was a constant warning to keep ourselves prepared for the society that we were living in,” says A. Peter Bailey, then a 37-year-old former aide to Malcolm X.

When “Wake Up Everybody” hit the airwaves, Bailey was working as an associate editor of Ebony Magazine. “It was a call to be aware of what we were dealing with in the country that we lived in, the world we lived in, the neighborhood we lived in, the cities that we lived in,” Bailey said in an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire.

He concluded that during Black Music Month 2026, such songs should be recalled and celebrated as a key to changes for the good across America; especially because such songs successfully encouraged people to deal with the issues that might otherwise denigrate the promises of America, including the promise that “All men are created equal,”as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

“The rhythms and blues expressed our joys, our sorrows and our fears,” Bailey recalls. “It was those songs and the singing of those songs by our people that attracted us to the campaigns for justice.”

With his life inspired by that song and others, Bailey, now 88, went on to establish and teach a Black Press class at Virginia Commonwealth University. Also, he has since written three books, including a memoir, “Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher,” in which he expounded upon successful principles of social justice, some of which are reflected in “Wake Up Everybody.”

Long before the term “woke” became associated with campaigns for justice, Pendergrass led the song that reverberated across America and still holds deep meaning.

The ‘wake up’ call exhorts teachers to ‘teach a new way,’ doctors to heal elders, and builders to ‘build a new land… we can do it if we all lend a hand.”

The song concludes:

“The world won’t get no better if we just let it be. Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw. The world won’t get no better. We gotta change it, yeah – just you and me.”

Hazel Trice Edney wrote this story as part of a four-part series powered by AARP in commemoration of Black Music Month, June 2026.

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National

Black Fraternity, Police Officer Face Million-Dollar Lawsuit

Published

on

Harry Draughn, Jr.

Harry Draughn, Jr.

by Khari Arnold
Special to NNPA from Howard University News Service

WASHINGTON – Kappa Alpha Psi, one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious black fraternities, is facing multi-million dollar lawsuits for hazing, the latest by a 45-year-old Washington man who claims he was paddled and beaten with a cane by members, including a Prince George’s County police officer.

Harry Draughn Jr., filed a $2 million lawsuit Tuesday (March 31) against Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and its member, police officer Jesse Stewart Jr., after allegedly being hazed during as a spring 2015 pledge of the Hyattsville/Landover Alumni Chapter of the fraternity, according to court documents.

Kappa Alpha Psi is already facing a $4 million lawsuit filed against it, its Baltimore alumni chapter and several members in January for allegedly hazing another man.

As a result of the new lawsuit, Stewart, 49, who served as the dean of the intake process for the Hyattsville/Landover alumni chapter, has been charged with a misdemeanor and suspended pending an investigation, Prince George’s County Police Chief Mark Magaw said.

“When one of our officers is accused of wrongdoing, we take those allegations seriously,” Magaw said in a statement. “The Prince George’s County Police Department holds our officers to high standards, whether they are on or off duty.”

Stewart, a 21-year member of the police department, faces up to five years in prison on misdemeanor reckless endangerment charges.

Court documents state the hazing began in February when Draughn and his line brothers were brought to Stewart’s garage to be smacked, hit, caned and paddled.

Pledges were also brought inside Stewart’s home, where they rubbed lotion on the off-duty officer as he sat in a kitchen chair, according to the complaint. Draughn also claims he was required to do tasks around Stewart’s home in his underwear.

Draughn’s suit claims he suffered emotional anguish and humiliation.

“I think it’s just degrading,” Draughn said in an interview. “When we signed up for Kappa Alpha Psi, we signed documents saying there wouldn’t be any hazing.”

Draughn also said Stewart asked him inappropriate sexual questions.

In September of 2014, the fraternity placed a national moratorium on membership intake for its undergraduate and alumni chapters amid hazing issues. The moratorium was lifted in January for graduate chapters.

“When they lifted it, they did not change any policies or procedures,” said Draughn’s attorney, Jimmy Bell. “That is mind-boggling. You admit that you have a problem and you don’t correct it, and then the very next month my client’s getting hazed.”

Stewart, the Kappa Alpha Psi headquarters in Philadelphia, the Kappa Alpha Psi Grand Polemarch (National President) William “Randy” Bates Jr. did not return phones calls seeking comment.

Draughn alleges that Stewart first hazed him in February, but it was a March 23 incident that caused him to file suit.

“Since the beating on March 23, 2015, plaintiff has had to sit on a pillow while driving and is suffering from lower back pain, has not been able to sleep and has felt depressed,” the lawsuit claims.

After he’d had enough, Draughn said that he complained to the fraternity and asked that the $3,000 he paid to join the organization be refunded, but his request was denied.

“We never thought that we were paying $3,000 to join a gang,” he said. “That’s not what we signed up for.”

Bell said he has been a member of Kappa Alpha Psi for 30 years.  He said he never endured hazing when he joined.  Hazing among fraternities, black and white, was common during that era.  The situation is different today, Bell said.

“Here’s the difference between now and then: It is against the law,” he said. “I’m doing what’s right so hopefully they’ll still be around in the next 50 years. It’s better to take a (financial) hit and change your policies than to not exist anymore.”

Bell said he believes that until the better measures are put in place by leaders of fraternities and other organization, injuries, deaths, like the one at Florida A&M University, and subsequent lawsuits will continue to happen.

“It’s a social organization,” he said. “Nobody should get hurt pledging.”

###

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

on

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Continue Reading

Activism

NPRC Joins National Grand Jury Proceedings Seeking Accountability, Constitutional Restoration

Organizers state that testimony will explore historical and political developments that they believe have contributed to the expansion of corporate influence over public institutions and governmental decision-making. Participants are expected to discuss concerns regarding constitutional governance, individual liberties, property rights, and the protection of vulnerable populations, including seniors and persons with disabilities.

Published

on

Photo by Billie Powers.
Photo by Billie Powers.

Special to The Post

The National Probate Reform Coalition (NPRC) has joined Toll and Roll and a growing coalition of advocacy organizations, victims, whistleblowers, and citizen groups in support of a nationally broadcast People’s Grand Jury proceeding scheduled for July 1 and July 7.

Organizers describe the event as a public forum designed to examine allegations of government abuse, judicial misconduct, legislative failures, and the erosion of constitutional protections affecting millions of Americans.

The proceedings will feature testimony from victims, families, advocates, and organizations from across the country who contend they have experienced harm through government actions, institutional neglect, and failures of oversight.

According to organizers, the People’s Grand Jury will focus on concerns involving probate courts, guardianships, conservatorships, child welfare systems, property rights, civil liberties, and what participants view as a growing disconnect between government institutions and the constitutional rights of the people they are sworn to serve.

NPRC is participating because many of the issues being examined mirror the concerns raised by advocates, victims, and families who have participated in its monthly town halls. For years, families have reported cases involving exploitation of elders, questionable guardianships, estate depletion, denial of due process, and a lack of meaningful oversight within probate court systems.

“This proceeding gives victims and advocates an opportunity to place their experiences on the public record,” said Tanya Dennis, lead facilitator of NPRC. “For too long, families have struggled to have their voices heard regarding elder abuse, probate exploitation, and government inaction. This forum allows those stories to be shared before a national audience.”

Organizers state that testimony will explore historical and political developments that they believe have contributed to the expansion of corporate influence over public institutions and governmental decision-making. Participants are expected to discuss concerns regarding constitutional governance, individual liberties, property rights, and the protection of vulnerable populations, including seniors and persons with disabilities.

In keeping with principles of transparency and fairness, invitations have been extended to legislators, members of the judiciary, law enforcement representatives, and other public officials who may wish to respond to concerns raised during the proceedings or defend actions taken by their respective institutions.

One of the primary outcomes sought by organizers is public consideration and support for the People’s Remedy and Restoration Act, a proposed legislative framework that advocates believe would strengthen oversight, increase accountability, provide remedies for victims of governmental abuse, and restore constitutional protections.

The proceedings are expected to be broadcast nationally, providing citizens throughout the United States an opportunity to observe testimony, review evidence presented, and participate in an ongoing conversation regarding government accountability and the protection of individual rights.

Advocates hope the hearings will encourage meaningful dialogue, legislative reform, and renewed public engagement in the democratic process.

Individuals, organizations, public officials, and members of the media interested in attending or obtaining access information may contact the organizers at tollandroll2025@gmail.com.

As Americans continue to debate the future of constitutional governance, judicial accountability, and the protection of vulnerable citizens, the July proceedings are expected to serve as a significant forum for public testimony and civic engagement. For more information, go to https://tollandroll.com

Continue Reading

Activism

50 Years Later, ‘Wake Up Everybody!’ Still Resonates During Black Music

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

Published

on

iStockphoto.
iStockphoto.

By Hazel Trice Edney, Special to The Post

Hazel Trice Edney

Hazel Trice Edney

“Wake up, everybody, No more sleepin’ in bed

No more backward thinkin’. Time for thinkin’ ahead

The world has changed so very much from what it used to be.

There is so much hatred, war, and poverty. 

The world won’t get no better If we just let it be. 

Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw.

The world won’t get no betterWe gotta change it, yeah– just you and me.”

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

In a rare, nearly somber moment, the group’s celebrated lead singer, Teddy Pendergrass, introduced the song on Soul Train, the weekly dance and live performance TV show that aired roughly between 1971 and 2006. Pendergrass told the attentive live audience and thousands watching by television that Wake Up Everybody, the title tune of their most recent album, was intended to inspire people to take action with a goal to change America for the better.

“I’m sure that you will all agree that there are things that need to be done in this country today,” he said. “So, what I’d like for you to do is listen very carefully to see what you can do to lend a hand.”

The song’s appeal worked.

“I played that song over and over and over again because it was a constant warning to keep ourselves prepared for the society that we were living in,” says A. Peter Bailey, then a 37-year-old former aide to Malcolm X.

When “Wake Up Everybody” hit the airwaves, Bailey was working as an associate editor of Ebony Magazine. “It was a call to be aware of what we were dealing with in the country that we lived in, the world we lived in, the neighborhood we lived in, the cities that we lived in,” Bailey said in an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire.

He concluded that during Black Music Month 2026, such songs should be recalled and celebrated as a key to changes for the good across America; especially because such songs successfully encouraged people to deal with the issues that might otherwise denigrate the promises of America, including the promise that “All men are created equal,”as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

“The rhythms and blues expressed our joys, our sorrows and our fears,” Bailey recalls. “It was those songs and the singing of those songs by our people that attracted us to the campaigns for justice.”

With his life inspired by that song and others, Bailey, now 88, went on to establish and teach a Black Press class at Virginia Commonwealth University. Also, he has since written three books, including a memoir, “Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher,” in which he expounded upon successful principles of social justice, some of which are reflected in “Wake Up Everybody.”

Long before the term “woke” became associated with campaigns for justice, Pendergrass led the song that reverberated across America and still holds deep meaning.

The ‘wake up’ call exhorts teachers to ‘teach a new way,’ doctors to heal elders, and builders to ‘build a new land… we can do it if we all lend a hand.”

The song concludes:

“The world won’t get no better if we just let it be. Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw. The world won’t get no better. We gotta change it, yeah – just you and me.”

Hazel Trice Edney wrote this story as part of a four-part series powered by AARP in commemoration of Black Music Month, June 2026.

Continue Reading

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