Tavon Harris

"I actually did an internship working with the Citizens Planning and Housing Association in Baltimore. We worked with community organizations writing about how new programs that are being implemented and how people can take advantage of these programs- so they can be more accessible, more marketable to employers, and pretty much developing skills for the future that we’re all probably going to need.”

-Tavon Harris, Senior, Sociology major

I encountered the subject of this interview when I was walking through the Oak Grove on my way from class yesterday. As nice as it was yesterday, the Grove was filled with people enjoying it. I noticed as I was walking that there was a fraternity doing a similar fundraiser that Sigma Pi did last week. However, I quickly picked up on the fact that it was different fraternity due to the fact that the letters were different.

 As I was approaching where the fraternity’s table had been established, one of the guys recognized me from an event to which we had both gone. (It was the free airing of the movie Selma over Kovalchick Center and Athletic Complex- KCAC for short.) After we talked a bit, he asked me if I wanted to help make a difference by donating a dollar to the fraternity. “In return,” he told me, “you get to pie one of us!”

“How about an interview instead?” I asked him. I then explained that I was the one who did the Faces of I.U.P. blog.

He smiled at me. “Oh! I know who you are! We heard about you! I know just the guy willing to do that.” He turned and called out to one of the guys, “Tavon! This guy wants an interview!”

I gave the guy a dollar and he stepped off to the side. I then turned towards Tavon as he made his way over to me. He greeted me kindly and I did the same. I told him that I was with the Faces of I.U.P. blog and that he was going to be the subject of my interview.

“Will that be before or after you pie me?” he asked me.

I happened to glance over and see that the guys had already prepared a pie for me to throw at Tavon. I smiled and waved my hand to let them know it wouldn’t be needed. “No pies. Just an interview,” I told him and smiled. Judging from the shaving cream that was spattered on him already- I could tell he had gotten it a couple of times.

There was a look of understanding on the subject’s face. I think there may have also been a sense of relief as well, judging from the smile that crossed his face. “Alright,” he said. 

I then began the interview. I of course started simple. “What is your name?”

“My name is Tavon Harris.”

“What’s your major, Tavon?” I asked him.

“I’m a Sociology major,” he told me. “I’m finishing up my senior year in December.”

“Cool,” I congratulated. “Where are you from?”

“I’m from Baltimore, Maryland.”

“Cool,” I said, impressed. “How did you come to I.U.P.?”

“I actually moved to Pennsylvania back in 2009 and we were looking to build a house. My parents built one and I went to high school here in PA. One of the recruiters from I.U.P. came down and I eventually landed down here playing sports, running track, and ultimately getting involved with my fraternity here.”

“Nice,” I said. “So you said you ran Track? Do you still run?”

“No, I ran for two years and then I had to stop in the latter part of my junior year. I stopped due to injuries and other things. I’m looking into running again in grad school but I’m fine now in terms of sports- I feel I did enough.”

“What made you decide to go into Sociology?” I asked.

“It’s pretty much the study of people. Just looking at the world from a different point-of-view. A lot of people look at it from a more micro, one-to-one basis, but I look at it from a broad sense of understanding people. I want to help people of course, and I really want to create programs for future people and future kids, future students go here. Whichever capacity I can help, I try to do. That’s why I chose Sociology. I guess you can say it’s like the helping major for most people.”

“That’s actually pretty accurate,” I agreed. I then went on to tell him that I was a Sociology minor. I wanted him to see that I understood what he was talking about. Of course, as a Sociology minor- I’m biased. The world is free to hold whatever positions that they have on it.

“Yeah, you can pretty much understand how sociologists think and how we see things. We really don’t see things the way some people may see them; especially when it comes to certain issues. That’s important to note too. I like to think we’re a little more open to differences and diversity.”

I went on and asked him, “So you said you’re going into Grad School?”

“Yeah, I’m probably going to look into going to the University of Baltimore, studying Non-Profit and Social Entrepreneurship. That pretty much deals with Non-Profit management and developing Non-Profit and starting up your own Non-Profit. Social entrepreneurship is pretty much helping in the Non-Profit. So if I were to set up a program within the Baltimore city schools, to help with widespread lack of education in the school system- I’d implement that program and use my Non-Profit as a sort of leverage. That’s what I want to do ultimately, it’s help develop programs. Not only locally, but nationally- starting up fundraising for- I’m not sure which issues exactly yet- but ultimately that’s my ultimate goal.”

“So your ultimate goal is to start a non-profit that increases education?”

“Yes. Increases education, work with work force development, and helps with housing and revitalization- that’s another interest that I have. I actually did an internship working with the Citizens Planning and Housing Association in Baltimore. We worked with community organizations writing about how new programs that are being implemented and how people can take advantage of these programs- so they can be more accessible, more marketable to employers, and pretty much developing skills for the future that we’re all probably going to need.”

“Yeah, and unfortunately the inner cities do need them a lot,” I agreed sadly.

Tavon nodded. “Exactly. We’d seen- at the internship that I had this year- that a lot of people who lived in the outskirts of the city didn’t realize or were aware of changes that would affect the inner-city, or if they even got to the inner-city. One of the biggest issues that I tackled last summer was the Alcohol Outlet Inner-city Reduction. It’s pretty much implementing policies throughout the inner-city that would eliminate local liquor stores in street neighborhoods. Up until 2015, liquor stores could be right at the end of your block. That can cause an increase of crime, increase of flames, and lists of disturbances. Things that ultimately effect inner-city kids and you. Then there’s the health aspect- if you have a liquor store at the end of your street of course your parents or your loved one would be more susceptible towards becoming an alcoholic and engaging in crime. That implementation of the bill I think is going to help communities in a positive way. We’re looking forward to seeing that in the coming years.”

“You said that this was something you worked at last summer?” I asked.

“Yeah, it was with the Citizens Planning and Housing Association. That was my role as a community engagement leader intern. I went out and pretty much helped the community and making them aware about this policy. Getting their opinions as far as city council members who may vote in this favor, in that field. We wanted to make sure that they were actually knowledgeable of the policy, and they weren’t just voting because a city council member or someone said so. We wanted them to make sure they knew how this could affect them, and the positive affects it would have. They wouldn’t have to worry about their kids hanging out at the liquor store and being susceptible to it; or robbery or assault or those crimes you hear often about in the inner-city. Hopefully that program and that bill will reduce some of those crimes.”

I went on and asked Tavon, “How did you find out about that program?”

He thought for a few moments. “I think it was in the middle of my junior year I found out about it. I got home and interviewed it. Upon doing the interview and getting into the program, they gave me a project that I had throughout the summer. The bill was still very active. It was basically introduced back in 2013 and 2014 when I did the internship. People were still learning about it and city council members were still voting on it. It went all the way up until it reached the congressional level before it was finally enacted.

“Once I learned about that I said, ‘This clearly affects me.’ I live in the inner-city and we see liquor stores around us more often than not. The crimes that occurs around there can be stopped, and it’s just sad to say you can see certain thing in certain areas and not in others.”

“You were personally impacted by similar things growing up?” I asked him.

“Yeah. My parents both grew up in the Baltimore inner-city, you see their lifestyle and the stories that they may have told you, and take those things and learn from them. With that project I pretty much used the people’s stories to make sure I was a good advocate when I was talking to the city council members and being a liaison. I made sure I went to those community organizations and talked to them. I pretty much said, ‘Hey, this bill is being enacted and this is how it’s going to affect you. Make sure you talk to your community council members to let them know what you think.’ That’s pretty much what I took from that. Getting a feel with working with community organizations.”

“Sounds like you were also working on getting people to realize that they do actually have a-”

“Voice!” Tavon finished triumphantly. “Yeah, exactly. Another thing was educating them. You can see stuff on the news, but a lot of times things on the news are either misconstrued or misinterpreted. A lot of it was just educating them, and getting the information for themselves. Once they have that information they can have a strong voice in speaking on bills and legislation and getting their opinions out there. They can say, ‘I have this problem and I have facts and statistics behind it.’ You have a personal perspective and not just have someone talking to you.”

“Unfortunately people don’t realize just how powerful their voice can be,” I said.

“Yeah,” Tavon said in agreement. “Organization is another thing. People who don’t want change know that when groups of people mass together, change occurs. The whole idea is to try and keep us divided and to oppress one another more so than the next. So that there’s no equal playing field. I think the way to combat that is to educate. Once you can change their minds on that perspective you can open their mind to things that they never really thought of. I mean, who would have thought that some of the things that we see today would be reoccurring incidents from the past? Ultimately the mindset of some people are the same- and we haven’t really tackled that. It’s mainly getting to the minds of people and making sure that they’re not only aware, but understand the move you’re trying to make, or the change you take. Making sure everyone is more on board. That’s what I thought about when I got involved in Sociology.

“Really, let’s just use my fraternity- Alpha Phi Alpha- as leverage for my argument. We liaison not only for students, but for the public. This is a college fraternity- but it goes way past the college life. It’s a lifetime type of thing. You don’t just join for college years- it’s a brotherhood for a lifetime. Thirty-forty years down the road if I need them, I can call them. That’s the type of image on a college campus, but not only the university- but also even at a national level. We become leaders not only on a college campus but also out in the real world.

“That’s why you see Martin Luther King- who was a member of my fraternity as well. Thurgood Marshall, and W.E.B DuBois. All members of my fraternity but also great leaders in their own respect. That’s what I love so much about the diversity and really getting to know people. You can build off different things and work together for a cause that we all have, like for today.”

“Cool,” I said. I was really impressed by how much he knew the history of his fraternity. I was also impressed that knew of past significant figures who were a part of it. I hadn’t even known that Martin Luther King and the others mentioned were a part of fraternities. I turned towards the table that Alpha Phi Alpha had set up and asked, “So what is Alpha Phi Alpha doing this shaving cream pie thing for?”

“It’s for our chapter. We have a thirty-fifth anniversary coming up this weekend. We actually have a bench being dedicated here in the Oak Grove at all. We are the first Black Greek Life organization having a bench dedicated in the Oak Grove. We are also the first Black Greek organization to have formed here on campus. What we are doing is pretty much raising money and preparing for Greek Week- since it is Greek Week- and getting funds to cover for our next event- we have an event coming up for the end of the year. Pretty much a big block-party where seniors and grad students can say goodbye as students move along on their journey. This particular fundraiser is more just trying to get people to get to know us. We have connections on different parts of campus, and we’re bringing it all together. That’s why we chose this location in the Oak Grove- it’s the central part of campus. That way we can interact more as you can see.”

We paused for a few moments and we watched as one of the guys get pied in the face by one of the people who stopped to pay a dollar. “Looks like you guys are doing pretty well,” I commended.

“Yeah, we definitely need the momentum going into Greek Weekend. It’s also good to see the diverse crowd come out. Our aim was always to make sure we have diverse groups of people at each of our events- not just one specific. If you have only one set of people, there’s issues that don’t get tackled. That’s actually sending a bad message if you’re only adding one group of people. You wonder who this event is really for. This way, you’re not only inclusive but more welcoming.”

We paused again as another one of the guys in the fraternity who stood not too far away from us get pied in the face." 

He and I laughed, and he then plunged forward with some information pertaining to the history of Alpha Phi Alpha. “This fraternity was actually founded in 1906 at Cornell University. It was founded by seven elite men with their own professions and their own accomplishments and their respects. It was founded on a pre-dominantly white campus, it was uniquely a liberal studies club. They were formed because they wanted to perform greater works past college years. They orchestrated some unique principles that we still live by this day: manly deeds, scholarship, and love for all mankind. Our aim is to service as all. It’s not just here on campus but within the community as well. School life, being leaders to siblings that we may have, that type of thing. It’s very rugged. Six of us now, but we didn’t know each other before we met and before we crossed and all. It brings together groups of people that you wouldn’t even know. It’s not just for one specific group of people or other, it’s all inclusive. When we say something about Alpha, they know they’re not only leaders and scholars- they’re the people’s people. That’s the image we’ve been trying to portray.

“Up until this point- with over one hundred years of achievement and excellence, we have done quite a good job at upholding that standard.”

I was impressed. “That’s really cool,” I said sincerely. I went on and added, “Thanks for the history lesson too.”

Tavon laughed, “Yeah, I had to read a whole packet about that. It’s a lot of history but it’s even better see it being done. It’s better to see that history didn’t die out and we’re still active in the community. We’re still active one hundred six years later, still out working making change.”

“Yes, because unfortunately there are still plenty of issues that need to be dealt with,” I said.

“Yeah,” he told me. “We’re still facing the same issues. It’s interesting you actually brought that up. With the outbreak of the Mike Brown case, we’ve had members of the fraternity collectively- we have over ten thousand members nationwide- we funded his funeral and everything that came with that incident. That’s the type of leadership you want in Black organizations and in your community. Seeing that being proactive instead of reactive- we were doing this even before Mike Brown and every other type of thing. Not us being reactive when something goes wrong, but proactive when it does in the community. Homeless people are homeless people and we help them all, we help with national elections and try to get people to vote- not just for the national but all elections. We do those good things, but we built our program off of that. Those have been implemented for many of the years we’ve been in existence. Those are some of the top principles of my fraternity.”

“How did you get involved in this fraternity?” I asked him.

“I was watching Netflix and doing a research paper. I was studying Martin Luther King. A lot of time we look at Martin Luther King at face-value, but when you look and see and do in-depth studies, I actually found out that he was an Alpha. When I saw that he was an Alpha, I realized it was one of those minor things that people knew. I thought, ‘How can I use that as a guiding factor to why I want to join?’ I actually learned about his movement, how he impacted people, and how he just so happened to be a part of this fraternity. It actually enhanced his leadership skills. When he crossed it was in the fifties- it was peak times for social change. After his cross- he used his leadership skills on campus, his church, and the nation.

“For me, I have a similar mindset and want to invoke change, make a difference ultimately. What better way to do it than go through it with five other individuals with a common goal that’s honorable? Who not only want to succeed, but do it in a way that honors themselves and their families?

“I joined Alpha for many reasons. One reason being networking, I get to meet amazing people. I get to interact and build relationships with people I probably would never have been able to talk to. You and I probably wouldn’t be talking if I never would have joined. Things like that that we may take for granted or may not see. It’s those things that I tend to thrive off and appreciate about this fraternity.

“Another reason is it’s a brotherhood. I have four sisters, I don’t have any brothers. I always played sports: football, basketball, and track. I got used to being around people- being a people person naturally. I got to go around and get to know people and learn about them, and really wanting to talk to people beyond saying what they did last night. I actually want to have educated conversations and I found that talking with members of this great fraternity. They showed me more than told me. It was more words put to action. That’s why I believe it made a difference. That’s probably the top reason why I joined.”

It came to the point where we were talking for a while, and I knew I should probably let him go so that he could continue helping out with his fraternity’s fundraiser. I thanked him for allowing me to interview him. My Tablet had to be charged, but he allowed me to use the camera on his phone to grab a picture, and then sent it to my e-mail.

As we were getting ready to head our separate ways, I again said, “I really appreciate this.”

“It’s no problem. I think they pointed me towards you because they know I like to talk. I also run my own blog too.”

This caught my interest. “What’s your blog about?” I asked.

“It’s about little known social justice causes and movements. You should check it out if you like.”

“That actually sounds like something I’d be interested in,” I told him. “Could you write it down?”

He wrote it down for me on a piece of paper that I had available. I then told him I’d be sure to check it out. After shaking his hand, I thanked him again and with that we went on our way.

I would just like to take a few moments to say that it was a pleasure to have gotten to interview Tavon. I learned a lot about what he as a person is passionate about. It’s always cool to get to encounter people who carry such drive for the causes they support. If you want to check out Tavon’s blog, I’ve dropped a link of it down at the end of this post. Feel free to check it out.

Unfortunately we have come to the end of this post. In case you also weren’t keeping track, there’s less than four weeks left to the semester. Which means we’re heading towards the final stretch! No fear though. There were still be plenty of faces to encounter and stories to write down until that happens. Until next time though, catch you all later! 

Tavon's blog is called The Emphatic Truth. If you want to, check it out!