Philadelphia family of none beat tragic obstacles with unity and education

Jet, June 2, 1997

The Jeffries family believes that where there's a will, there's a way and that through family unity and education an things are possible.

Nine siblings have triumphed over having to support one another with little parental guidance by standing by one another's side and getting an education.

"In order to love yourself, you have to educate yourself," Gail Jeffries frequently told her children. That's exactly what the Jeffries clan is doing.

Lovell Harmon, 32, the third oldest, recently earned a master's degree in health care and financial management and an MBA in health administration at Temple University in Philadelphia, while sister Bayyinah, 25, also graduated this year, cum laude, with a bachelor's degree in elementary education at the same institution.

Rafiq Jeffries II, 22, recently earned a master's degree in teaching and a bachelor's degree in a double major of African-American studies and English at the University of Virginia, while brother Jeremiah, 21, also graduated this year with a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in religion at the same university.

Another sister, Shahidah, 28, the oldest remaining, has been accepted at Harvard University, where she will start a Ph.D. program in divinity and education in the fall.

"Education was the vehicle, devotion to each other was the drive," says Rafiq Jeffries II, about his family's accomplishments. And he is quite a proud young man because he knows the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that his family hurdled.

In 1985, after a 20-year-old sister's death, their parents, Rafiq and Gail Jeffries, were so overwhelmed with grief that they mentally withdrew from the family. Gail, who had a history of depression, became further withdrawn from the world, while Rafiq lost his job and struggled with drug addiction.

The nine surviving children, whose ages ranged from 23 to 8 at that time, suddenly found themselves without parental and financial support. But, they didn't let that break their spirit to remain together as a family.

Lorenzo, the eldest brother, and Lovell Harmon took jobs while each child looked after the next youngest.

"The rule was, you listen to the person above you" says Rafiq II. "And you are responsible for the ones younger than you," Jeremiah chimes in. "We were determined to make it. We were determined to beat poverty and anything else that came our way. We had our parents' spirituality, even if we didn't have them actively with us."

So determined was the family to stay together that if social workers were scheduled to visit, the family stayed away from their house in Philly's Germantown. When their house was condemned, they took the sign down. And, in 1990, when they were evicted, they stayed together for three more years. Then the remaining children, Mikal, 18, Gabriella, 17, and Eva Marie, 15, were taken in by Lovell and his wife, Lynada, who have been married now for nine years.

Their parents have since gotten on the path toward recovery. Eldest brother Lorenzo is taking care of their mother and grandmother. Mikal and their father are now living together, while Gabriella and Eva Marie continue to reside with Lovell, his wife and their two children, Justin, 7, and Akil, 5.

"My mother did an excellent job building a foundation that stressed unity. We could have fallen apart, but we didn't" says Lovell, a manager of proposal development for Blue Cross.

Adds Rafiq II, "No matter what has happened, it is clear to me that my father and mother are definitely warriors. Their spirit and love of their children and the world around them is a testament to the will to survive that they passed on to us. I'm proud of my parents."