A 9-year-old Blake Harper innocently debated with a young teenager about who was better at video games. As the two sat in his mother’s office at the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services in Washington, D.C., their youthful dialogue formed a bond.
A couple weeks after their initial conversation, Linda Harllee Harper, the department’s senior deputy director, informed her son that the teenager was shot and killed.
“He just felt like a regular person,” Harper recalled. The teenager had just arrived from New York and was placed in the DYRS system as a juvenile.
Now, the 19-year-old Howard University guard wants to use his platform to advocate against gun violence and as an outlet for juveniles in the District.
Harper will make his first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament appearance Thursday against Morgan State University, after making MEAC history by becoming the first basketball player to be named Player of Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. With 19.3 points per game, Harper is second in scoring among Division I freshmen. The 6-foot-8 guard has earned a record-setting 17-straight MEAC Rookie of the Week awards. Off the court, Harper focuses on his advocacy as a criminology major.
He credits his passion for social justice to his late mother, who passed away in May 2023 from breast cancer. Harper said his mother raised him not to be a liar, cheater or thief and to value making a good first impression.
His mother played a pivotal role in transforming the district’s juvenile system. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser appointed her as the district’s first director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention in 2021 and director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement in February 2023. She hosted a podcast called “Led By Love” that focused on restorative juvenile justice.
Between 2016 and 2022, Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested an average of 2,235 juveniles under 18 each year, nearly twice as many as the country’s rate, according to dcpolicycenter.org. The percentage of homicides and non-fatal shootings by youth aged 15 to 20 almost doubled from 2021 through June 2024, according to dcwitness.org.
“Having friends and old teammates who were in the wrong place or being in the wrong environment, it could be that one person who says, ‘Hey don’t do that’ or ‘chill off that’ that helps,” Harper said. “I feel like that’s where my mom stepped in (and) that’s where I feel like I could step in now.”
Similar to his mother, his father, Byron Harper, believes that Blake advocates with a redemption-first heart posture.
“The biggest quality they share is a heart that never wants to cut anybody off (because they believe) everyone deserves a second chance,” Byron said. “Once you are judged, you are already condemned and Linda did not believe in that. And Blake is one who believes in the best of a person and not the worst of a person.”
A significant part of Harper’s decision to attend Howard was because coach Kenneth Blakeney prioritizes civic engagement and the school’s rich history of social activism. The basketball team has chosen a social justice project every season since Blakeney inherited the position in 2019.
The team focused on juvenile justice issues last year. This season, the project was split between voter engagement during the 2024 election season and now mental health, beginning with a yoga session in early February.
“It just feels like a very natural path for him,” Blakeney said about Harper’s passion for social justice. “The game is giving him a certain amount of exposure to neighborhoods and communities.”
“As he matures and continues to have the exposure that the city provides, I think he can find a greater voice to be able to impact social change. I see him as a guy that can possibly be on Capitol Hill or in the White House as a major voice of influence.”
Harper visited local jails with his mother and became familiar with challenges that some youth face in Southeast D.C., where she primarily worked. Harper understands the adversity young Black men may face can seem insurmountable. However, he wants to use his setbacks as a symbolism of hope.
“Blake Harper is more than just a basketball player. He’s more than just the guy at Howard wearing number seven. He has a story,” he said. “I want people to be impacted by my story.”
Harper entered Gonzaga High School as a 5-foot-6, 185-pound “chubby” freshman. He didn’t earn a varsity nod until his junior year.
He committed to progress. The result: a full athletic scholarship to his hometown Howard University.
Harper joined the reigning Mid-Eastern Conference Athletic champions on June 22, 2024, but didn’t practice until August because he couldn’t pass the conditioning test. Harper’s teammates and coaches jokingly called him the towel boy. Now, the 6-foot-8 guard wears the team captain armband and is a subject in freshman of the year conversations.
“Coach Blakeney tells us every day: ‘It’s not what you’re capable of; it’s what you’re willing to do,’” Harper said. “A lot of people are capable of a lot of things but if you’re willing to do it, you’re going to go far and have success and that’s what I want to leave with the youth.”
Harper wants to host his own community engagement events, including basketball and NBA 2K tournaments, and turkey drives during Thanksgiving. Harper said he “wants to get people out the house to engage face to face and make bonds.”
With every community-centered event and interaction Harper initiates, his mother’s legacy lives on.
“She’s a part of my story. I really do it for her,” Harper said. “Believe it or not, she’s not coming back. It’s just the reality of life. Now, it’s about how I represent her.”
Joshua Heron is a freelance sports reporter in Washington. He received a bachelor’s in journalism from Howard University and a master’s in sports journalism from Arizona State University.
Updated March 12, 2025
