Divine Journeys: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc | Because of Them We Can

Being a member of Alpha Phi Alpha,  Fraternity, Inc means everything   to me. Manly Deed, scholarship and love for all mankind. Every alpha knows those terms. I think the most important piece is the  Brotherhood. Brotherhood to me means everything. It means going above and beyond  because our Founders did it for  

Us. They fought to ensure that we had  a fraternity. No matter where I go,   no matter what circumstance happened, I know  there’s a Brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,   Incorporated on the side of me, behind me in the  front, holding it down and ensuring that we go  

Through the trials and tribulations together and  that we get through them and come out even better. Brandon Rule Fall 10. Epsilon  Tau chapter of Alpha Fraternity   Incorporated. I’m a commercial real  estate developer and an entrepreneur.
 My name is Tamir Harper and I’m a proud  Brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,  

Incorporated by way of the Nu Beta chapter. My  divine journey over time has experienced the good,   bad, and ugly coming from the school district of  Philadelphia. If I went to one of the worst rated   middle schools and then I had the opportunity  to be bused to a school in South Philly,  

Then saw the inequities, and that gave me  really the opportunity to start questioning   systems that launched me to go back into the  education space, but not only as an educator,   but as a disruptor of a system that has failed  black and brown children for far too long.

My divine journey throughout my life has had a few  pivotal moments. One of the biggest turning points   was the first time I experienced homelessness,  which was the 1994 earthquake in middle school. We   also suffered a house fire and we lost everything  again. And I think the pairing between the two is  

Really pivotal to what I’m doing here today,  studying economy and how capitalism works.   Understanding that money is a tool. How do we use  it to uplift our communities in a beneficial way? When I think of scholarship fellowship in good  character, all three of those words connect  

To my experience as a teacher. I think back  to my sophomore year in high school is when   I discovered Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,  Incorporated was so active in communities.   Sterling Grimes, who is a black male  educator, was part of a coalition of black  

Men working to increase black men going into the  classroom. And he would always throw a sign up,   which I now know as the Phi, and then go give  Brothers this handshake that we call The Grip.   And I was inspired and I said, well, can you  give me that handshake? Why can’t I throw  

Up that sign? And he said, one day, you will  have that opportunity if you work towards it. Alpha was drawn to me in college through really  some Brothers that I still love and are near and  

Dear to my heart today. They exposed me to  what it means to be an Alpha man, seeing how   they were transforming themselves throughout their  college journey. That’s what sparked my interest.   Lighting the torch of others, never dims your own.  

That is in the spirit of the fraternity. If you  look at the Seven Jewels, that is why they set   off to set this fraternity and frankly, all of  the fraternities and sororities that came after. We have had men of distinction since the  founding 116 years ago. When we think of  

Brother Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Supreme Court  Justice, Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Cornel West,   understanding African American social  thought. Dr. Dennis Kimbro Thinking   Grow Rich Black Choice, phenomenal  book and what makes the great great. Senator Raphael Warnock and Governor  Wes Moore, TV actor and author,  

Hill Harper and Omari Hardwick. They  have been first in their own rights.   They have been trendsetters and leaders in their  community. They continue to put community first. My drive in particular is motivated by  legacy, really trying to create legacy  

That lives well beyond the years in which  I’m here. Mission is really important. How   do we recreate and reimagine community  so we can have an improvement in it,   but the people within our community can remain and  benefit from that improvement of the community?

When I think about inspiring others, I  think about the founding of our fraternity,   our seven jewels fault, not for themselves,  but for the next generation. And we’ve been   here for 116 years and I continue to fight. So  we’ll be here for another 116 years so that the  

Next generation have the opportunity to say  they are men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,   Incorporated. Because this is so  much bigger than us. This is for   society, it’s for humanity, and this  is for the work of our communities.

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