Ellington

Hill Harper is a jack-of-all-trades. As an actor, he is best known for his role on "CSI: New York" as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, but he is also an activist, author and philanthropist, as well has having a highly publicized friendship with Barack Obama. Harper is coming to speak at Jackson State University's graduation this weekend.

Harper became interested in acting his freshman year at Brown University. After joining a black theater group while at Harvard, Harper moved to New York to pursue his career. He landed his first big role on "Married with Children." He appeared on many popular TV shows, such as "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and "E.R." before starring in "CSI: New York." Recently Harper signed on to costar in USA's "Covert Affairs."

The actor also snagged a spot on People magazine's top 50 most beautiful people list of 2004. Harper has written four books and started a charity to help disadvantaged youth--the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation. From 2008 through 2010, he won the NAACP Image Award for his portrayal of Sheldon Hawkes, a knowledgeable surgeon turned coroner. His roles have frequently verged into the social justice arena, such as his portrayal of a man dying from AIDS in the 2000 film "The Visit."

Harper's first forays as a writer were the two advice books: "Letters to a Young Brother" and "Letters to a Young Sister." Real teens sending Harper mail inspired both books. He then wrote "The Conversation," a book about how "black men and women can build healthy relationships." Harper cites the deterioration of the black family model as the key reason he wrote the book. He first became aware of this problem through his work at Manifest Your Destiny.

"Three out of every four young people I work with (are) raised by a single parent," Harper said in an interview with THNKR. In a world where only 34 percent of black teens are raised by two-parent households and the dropout and incarceration rate for black males is shockingly high, Harper stresses the need for a stable family to raise the next generation of black youth.

In terms of good black family models, Harper cites the Obamas. Harper first met the president when he was a freshman at Harvard. The future president challenged Harper to a pickup basketball game, and they became friends. Harper was a very vocal supporter during Obama's first campaign, even debating Sean Hannity on Fox News.

One issue Harper has been less vocal about is his battle with thyroid cancer. When Harper was filming "For Colored Girls," in Atlanta, he woke up one morning and found that he couldn't swallow. After going to a local Atlanta doctor and getting a biopsy, Harper took a long train ride to clear his head. This train ride is where he began writing his most recent book, "Wealth Cure," that offers advice on financial literacy.

In an interview with TV and radio host Conn Jackson, Harper talked about the book, saying, "It's very personal, but at the same time there's really nuts and bolts information in there ... that hopefully people can get something out of."

Harper is the featured speaker at JSU's commencement ceremony Saturday, May 4, at 8 a.m.