With 121 million viewers, Usher's 2024 performance during Super Bowl LVIII became the most-watched halftime show in history. Appearances by Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Ludacris and Lil Jon made for a star-packed performance, but it was the incorporation of a lesser-known group that helped carry the show. In addition to Jackson State University’s famed Sonic Boom of the South marching band, two members of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity shared the spotlight with the R&B singer, adding their signature shimmy and stroll to the halftime performance.

For many viewers, it was their first time witnessing the “Kappa stroll,” bringing national awareness to an organization well known within the Black community but lesser known to the masses. On TikTok, the popularity continued, with some videos of Kappas strolling and shimmying gaining over 5 million views. Following the hype, several videos of non-Kappa affiliated social media users strolling have only grown in numbers, shedding light on the cultural appropriation that often erupts from cross cultural sharing online. 

“People that may not have ever been exposed to things like [Divine] Nine organizations are now being exposed to them at a high level,” said Tobin Ludwig, a 30-year-old licensed therapist in Fort Worth, Texas. Ludwig attended Texas State University and crossed Kappa Alpha Psi in 2016. While Ludwig says he understands that it’s human nature to mimic popular culture, when people partake in expressions that are not their own, the expression is often “diluted.” 

“It kind of simplifies the stroll down to just a dance instead of it being a part of the larger history of HBCUs as well as Black collegiate men and women.” 

“I think very few of these people know the history or roots of this organization or any of the other Divine Nine organizations, and how many of them are contending with the realities of white supremacy on their campus,” said Treva Lindsey, a Professor of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University. 

The Divine Nine is a nickname for the nine individual Black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) that emerged during the early 1900s. Of the group, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., also known as the Nupes, was founded at Indiana University Bloomington, in 1911 – a time when the campus did not encourage the assimilation of Black students. Founded upon the ideals of dedication to brotherhood, the fraternity’s motto is Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor. Similar to other Greek organizations within the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), becoming a member of Kappa Alpha Psi involves a rigorous pledging process with requirements of being a male student enrolled full-time at a college or university, holding a minimum 2.5 GPA, and demonstrating good moral character. 

While the organization’s constitution has never contained any clause that excludes or suggests the exclusion of membership based on race, religious background, or national origin, it is a historically Black Greek letter fraternity that was founded on a college campus that did not allow Black students to reside in on-campus dormitories, use university facilities, and participate in any contact sports, besides track and field. When non-Kappa members perform the Kappa stroll on social media, especially those of non-Black cultures with no historical ties to the fraternity, they choose to dance without the prerequisite appreciation for what those dances mean. “I think it's very telling that folks want to just take the movements and cosplay without digging in and having an acute understanding of the roots of these traditions and why we struggle, why we step, and why we engage in practices like the Kappas do,” said Lindsey. 

Prior to acceptance into the fraternity, pledges are not allowed to wear Kappa Alpha Psi attire, refer to themselves as members, or publicly stroll. “We earned a place in membership of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated. So for us, it's kind of like a slap in the face if you didn't put in the same work that we did to get to where we are to be granted this membership and the ability to stroll,” said Shelton Walker, a 21-year-old junior at the University of Texas at Austin. Walker crossed in Spring 2024, alongside his line brother Donte Pierre, a 23-year-old junior at the University of Texas at Austin. “What outsiders don’t seem to realize is that being a part of this organization is about more than just dancing. All the shimmying you see on TikTok is like ten percent of what we do and are about,” added Pierre. As stated on the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated official website, local chapters of Kappa Alpha Psi participate in various community outreach activities such as feeding the homeless, providing scholarships to young people matriculating to college, serving as mentors to young men, participating in blood drives, and hosting seminars for public health awareness.

During a “hump night” event at Texas State University in September, a video of University of Texas at Austin Kappas strolling to a Nupe chant was posted to TikTok. Among the group were Walker and Pierre. Since then, the two college students said they’ve seen videos of people changing the lyrics to the chant and referring to themselves as Nupes, along with strolling and shimmying. The trend itself is somewhat ludicrous, given that performing strolls and posing as a member of Kappa Alpha Psi is considered one way to be blacklisted from joining the organization. 

“When things that are divorced from certain communities go viral online, and folks who have no understanding of those intergroup dynamics or those understood rules that aren't stated anywhere take part in them, it really lends itself to a particular kind of cultural misappropriation,” said Lindsey. “Knowing that these organizations have their own processes by which people become members, there are these unspoken intergroup rules that operate in Black communities to hold a certain respect and distance from the organization.” While adopting parts of another culture is not always a harmful or negative act, cultural misappropriation occurs when someone misuses or exploits another culture. 

For those who argue that TikTok is a public platform and cosplaying as a Nupe is more cultural appreciation than appropriation, Ludwig has suggestions: “You can play a part in the organization without being in it by volunteering with your local chapter, attending our events, and donating to our causes. I think that shows an appreciation for what the organization is doing and the more important aspects.”