Anthony Harper sat on a bench in a park near Mountain Park Avenue, hunched
over his phone with black baseball cap, a gray t-shirt tank top, dark blue denim
jeans, and light brown work boots. He stood at 6 feet 5 inches and his arms
stretched out like tree trunks, with hands the size of catcher’s mitts. His arms were
sculpted with hard muscles and tattooed with thick black lines that swirled around
his shoulder blades and on to his chest.
Anthony Harper is 25 years old and was born and raised in Syracuse, New York.
Despite his tough exterior, Harper is deeply rooted in the community as a teacher
at the Beard School and a founder of the Black Lives Matter group in Syracuse.
He led the protest downtown Syracuse on July 18th in and another outside of the
Onondaga County Justice Center July 29th after Maurice Crawley, member of the “
OG Against Violence" group was arrested.
Harper describes Syracuse as his city, full of his people, and says he wants to help
the black community and youth in his hometown.
"I’m from Syracuse, the Southside, I’m pretty sure you heard a lot about that side
of town,”
Harper said in a deep voice as he looks forward intently.
"All the murders that you’ve been hearing about…that’s the Southside.”
Harper said walking away from the issues of crime and violence in the Southside
neighborhood are faced with would go against everything he’s about.
It should be noted that 49.0% of Syracuse citizens under 18 years old are living in
poverty. Furthermore, within the Syracuse City School District, the average
graduation rate is 52% compared to the average graduation rate of 84.4% within
suburban districts, according to Onondaga County Health Assessment.
Harper said he was able to stay on the right path because growing up, he was
influenced positively by his elders.
He works with the at-risk youth in Syracuse at the McCarthy at W.R Beard School
and said that they lack positive role models in their lives.
"One of my nine-year old students got shot in the head and came back to school
bragging about it."
He looked away and shook his head, rubbing his hand across his closed fist.
“You know?"
Harper said it is easy to look at kids on the outside and judge them, but you don’t
know what goes on in their lives. Most are kids that are lost in a broken home.
Rahize Seals, an activist from Syracuse that works with Harper in Black Lives
Matter said he cares about the kids in the community and does his part both inside
and outside the classroom.
"There would be a couple kids on the street and he would go up to them and ask
them how they were doing,” Seals said. “I call him a gentle giant because he’s a
good guy and he cares.”
His perspective may be different from others because he grew up in the same
neighborhoods as these kids and dealt with violence himself growing up, a friend
and fellow activist Brittany Lancto said.
"He’s a relatable. It’s different when kids are subject to someone telling them what
to do rather than sympathizing with things that they have gone through in their
lives as well,” Lancto said. “I think kids understand that he’s been in their shoes."
Harper explained he and his family have been through a lot.
“I’ve seen the cops come to my house and slam my mother on the floor, toss my
baby sister in the air and mace my father”, he said. “I’ve seen that, and I’m five
years old.”
"I’ve been shot at, stabbed, I was never supposed to go through any of that,”
Harper said. "None of us were."
When Harper found out his little brother’s best friend had been murdered in 2013,
however, he was motivated to do more. He began the Black Lives Matter Syracuse
Facebook page to bring awareness to the problems with police brutality in the
black community.
“We have to hold ourselves accountable instead of pointing the finger. We are the
reason we are in the position we are in now and that’s where we’ve got to get a
sense of urgency,” Harper said.
He sat up straight and his raised his voice.
“Because we are getting picked off, and fast.”
"I mean", he took a deep breath and slouched back down, "It’s just complicated."
Lafwan Dowdell-Flood, Harper’s mother, explained that he is the kind of person
that refuses to give up on anything he cares about.
"If I had been one of those few parents that said, ‘No, I don’t think you should get
involved in this’, he would have done it anyway,” Dowdwell-Flood said. “That’s
just who he is.”
Harper hopes he can bring some positivity back into the community. Specifically,
he wants to give hope to the black communities of Syracuse.
"I love the hood so much and I love my people so much,” Harper said. "We are the
bomb and I just want to give that sense of pride back, that spirit back."
over his phone with black baseball cap, a gray t-shirt tank top, dark blue denim
jeans, and light brown work boots. He stood at 6 feet 5 inches and his arms
stretched out like tree trunks, with hands the size of catcher’s mitts. His arms were
sculpted with hard muscles and tattooed with thick black lines that swirled around
his shoulder blades and on to his chest.
Anthony Harper is 25 years old and was born and raised in Syracuse, New York.
Despite his tough exterior, Harper is deeply rooted in the community as a teacher
at the Beard School and a founder of the Black Lives Matter group in Syracuse.
He led the protest downtown Syracuse on July 18th in and another outside of the
Onondaga County Justice Center July 29th after Maurice Crawley, member of the “
OG Against Violence" group was arrested.
Harper describes Syracuse as his city, full of his people, and says he wants to help
the black community and youth in his hometown.
"I’m from Syracuse, the Southside, I’m pretty sure you heard a lot about that side
of town,”
Harper said in a deep voice as he looks forward intently.
"All the murders that you’ve been hearing about…that’s the Southside.”
Harper said walking away from the issues of crime and violence in the Southside
neighborhood are faced with would go against everything he’s about.
It should be noted that 49.0% of Syracuse citizens under 18 years old are living in
poverty. Furthermore, within the Syracuse City School District, the average
graduation rate is 52% compared to the average graduation rate of 84.4% within
suburban districts, according to Onondaga County Health Assessment.
Harper said he was able to stay on the right path because growing up, he was
influenced positively by his elders.
He works with the at-risk youth in Syracuse at the McCarthy at W.R Beard School
and said that they lack positive role models in their lives.
"One of my nine-year old students got shot in the head and came back to school
bragging about it."
He looked away and shook his head, rubbing his hand across his closed fist.
“You know?"
Harper said it is easy to look at kids on the outside and judge them, but you don’t
know what goes on in their lives. Most are kids that are lost in a broken home.
Rahize Seals, an activist from Syracuse that works with Harper in Black Lives
Matter said he cares about the kids in the community and does his part both inside
and outside the classroom.
"There would be a couple kids on the street and he would go up to them and ask
them how they were doing,” Seals said. “I call him a gentle giant because he’s a
good guy and he cares.”
His perspective may be different from others because he grew up in the same
neighborhoods as these kids and dealt with violence himself growing up, a friend
and fellow activist Brittany Lancto said.
"He’s a relatable. It’s different when kids are subject to someone telling them what
to do rather than sympathizing with things that they have gone through in their
lives as well,” Lancto said. “I think kids understand that he’s been in their shoes."
Harper explained he and his family have been through a lot.
“I’ve seen the cops come to my house and slam my mother on the floor, toss my
baby sister in the air and mace my father”, he said. “I’ve seen that, and I’m five
years old.”
"I’ve been shot at, stabbed, I was never supposed to go through any of that,”
Harper said. "None of us were."
When Harper found out his little brother’s best friend had been murdered in 2013,
however, he was motivated to do more. He began the Black Lives Matter Syracuse
Facebook page to bring awareness to the problems with police brutality in the
black community.
“We have to hold ourselves accountable instead of pointing the finger. We are the
reason we are in the position we are in now and that’s where we’ve got to get a
sense of urgency,” Harper said.
He sat up straight and his raised his voice.
“Because we are getting picked off, and fast.”
"I mean", he took a deep breath and slouched back down, "It’s just complicated."
Lafwan Dowdell-Flood, Harper’s mother, explained that he is the kind of person
that refuses to give up on anything he cares about.
"If I had been one of those few parents that said, ‘No, I don’t think you should get
involved in this’, he would have done it anyway,” Dowdwell-Flood said. “That’s
just who he is.”
Harper hopes he can bring some positivity back into the community. Specifically,
he wants to give hope to the black communities of Syracuse.
"I love the hood so much and I love my people so much,” Harper said. "We are the
bomb and I just want to give that sense of pride back, that spirit back."