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Some fraternity men show loyalty with branding
Burning greek letters on body mark pride for some African-American males
By India Webb Special to the Kansan
Marek Jacobs, St. Louis, Mo., senior, has the letters of his fraternity branded onto his chest. He was branded more than a year ago.
Marek Jacobs, St. Louis senior, heated a straightened hanger over a fire then pressed it against his caramel brown skin and burned the greek letters that stand for Alpha Phi Alpha right above his heart.
Now Jacobs has a slightly raised scar about 5 inches long across his chest displaying his fraternity's letters.
It took Jacob's burn about six weeks to heal. He put alcohol on it and slept without a shirt to give the burn some air so it would not get infected.
Amy Solt/KANSAN
"It would bleed and itch after about three weeks when the scabs started coming off, but the initial pain was the worst," said Jacobs, president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Although Jacobs branded himself with a hanger, many of the men have symbols branded on them with branding irons.
Jacobs is one of many African-American men who brand themselves as a representation of their love and devotion to their fraternal organizations.
"The branding didn't help me feel more of a man, it's just something that signifies the fraternity and my love for it," Jacobs said. "I was a man before I became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. It's not the fraternity that makes the man, it's the man that makes the fraternity. When I became part of the fraternity, it just made me a better man."
Branding is not a requirement for initiation into any of the African-American f'aternities at the University of Kansas. Kyle Moore, Newark, N.J., senior, took an eraser and rubbed his skin until he formed Alpha Phi Alpha's letters on the side of his leg.
Moore is also a former KU football player, so one day last year when he and some of his football buddies got together he decided to rub his football number into his skin with an eraser.
He said the reason he branded himself with a pencil eraser was that he really didn't trust anyone to brand him with a branding iron.
"If someone brands you with a branding iron, they could hit your skin the wrong way, and you would have a messed up brand for life," Moore said.
But medical problems can occur from branding regardless of the method. Branding the skin makes the skin subject to all the complications of any burn, and there's a great possibility of infection, said Lee Bittenbender, a dermatologist at the Dermatology Center of Lawrence, 930 Iowa St.
"If there's any question about infection, I wouldn't play around with that," Bittenbender said. "This is potentially a big problem. I would suggest that the person see a physician. An antibiotic may be needed."
"Blacks have the propensity to develop keloid scars, which are typically raised up and beyond the area of injury," he said. "It may become a lot bigger than the initial
area of the brand."
Keloids cannot be surgically removed because surgery might increase the size of the scarring. Keloids are treated by injecting the raised scar with a cortisone solution. The solution will flatten the scar, but will not remove it completely, Bittenbender said.
Not all African-American fraternity members agree with the practice of branding.
Steve Douglas, Kansas City, Kan., senior and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, said that he loved his fraternity but that branding was not necessary to show it.
"Blacks were branded during slavery to show ownership." Douglas said. "Now, we're branding ourselves just to show our love for an organization. It's perverse and degrading."
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