When you go to non-profit events in Plant City, you will often see one or more Zetas there lending a hand to support a good cause.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, was founded January 16, 1920, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, DC. Zeta Phi Beta was conceived by women the sorority honors as their “Five Pearls. These women dared to depart from the traditional coalitions for black women—seeking to establish an organization based on the precepts of “Scholarship, Service, Sisterly Love, & Finer Womanhood.”
The Plant City chapter was chartered in September, 1953, but eventually waned. Six re-chartering members revitalized this Epsilon Beta Zeta Chapter on April 1, 2010, to continue serving the Plant City community. The six ladies are Chantel D. Bowie, Karla Clayton, Chakita Hargrove, Martha Holley, Samantha Holley-McDonald, and Amanda C. Phillips.
On Saturday, the Zetas had a presence at Plant City Comic Cafe in downtown. “Today is Free Comic Book Day, nationally,” Tonya Lockhart, Chapter President, said.
“They created this day for comic book stores to give out free comics to get people interested in the hobby,” Sherrick Ervin, owner of the Comic Cafe, said. “The Zetas wanted to bring some kids in, and get them introduced. We wanted to accommodate that, because we are a kid-friendly place.”
The Zetas purchased comics to give away in addition to the free ones offered by Plant City Comic Cafe. “We are looking for at least 25 girls to come in,” Jacquelyn Bobb, 2nd Vice President, who oversees community service, said.
“Comic books expand students’ genre of reading,” Chandra Todd, a member of Zeta Phi Beta commented. Todd has the knowledge to speak about this because she is Assistant Principal at Marshall Middle Magnet IB World School, and was the Hillsborough County Public Schools 2023-2024 Assistant Principal of the Year. “Those students who may not like those big novels, chapter books, it gives them something to be engaged in and excited about, and continues the love of reading without necessarily being what some students perceive as a heavy lift. It is high interest, so with some of them reading comic books, mangas, and all of those things, helps kids continue into their young adult life the love of reading. It is a more condensed form, but it is enjoyable, so they continue to read and broaden their opportunities to grow their minds because comics actually deal with many issues that they may be confronting today and in the future. So, that is how comic books are connected to education and keep our students engaged in reading.”
“This business is new in Plant City, so we are here trying to support one of the businesses that have come in….partnership is a really big thing, so that is what we are trying to do, we are trying to make our name, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, Epsilon Beta Zeta.”