“My firstborn, Justice, was a blessing to my life. Although I got pregnant in college, that experience only gave me more motivation to do and be the best I can in life as a mom and a professional woman,” says Harper, who in addition to Justice, now 15, has a daughter, Jayah, 6.
Her life wasn’t easy. She always had to work hard. Even when she went off to school, because she arrived late, she had no dorm, so she had to take all of the little money she had to live in a motel for a month until she could get housing.
Work is no problem for Harper. She always worked two jobs while attending college. She had no car so she had to take the bus everywhere, and she had a child.
“I would get up extra early because while I was in school I had two full-time jobs, so I would have to take the bus two hours up and two hours back, and I worked the morning shift at one job, went to school, then worked the overnight shift at another job. The hustle was real for me,” Harper says.
Hard work has paid off for Harper, who would later transfer to another HBCU, Hampton University. She received a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with a minor in political science.
Known for telling it like it is, Harper has been a regular correspondent on TMZ for nine years. This year, she was the only Black woman in the country to have a late-night TV show, “Raq Rants,” on BET.
“I truly want to thank Black College Expo for helping me get to where I am,” she says.
Follow Harper on Instagram and Twitter @rocktopics and @RaquelHarper on Facebook.
Follow Black College Expo™ @blackcollegeexpo.
