Christian Harris
Christian Harris was born in Illinois and grew up in and around Chicago, residing mostly in Oak Park, IL. After graduating from Oak Park River Forest High School in 2009, Christian attended Bradley University where he received a B.S in Business Administration and a focus in Entrepreneurship. After graduating, he returned to Oak Park to fulfill his lifelong dream of opening a business in the community where he was raised. MaidPro, co-owned by him and his mother, is a cleaning service specializing in residential homes. In the five years since opening their doors, MaidPro has acquired over 150 clients and employs over 10 employees. Since opening MaidPro, he also opened a Limo service in 2015, selling his stake in 2017. Harris has also worked as an independent consultant and corporate consultant with OVP Management Consulting Group, helping business owners and professionals grow their businesses and careers. He hopes his entrepreneurial spirit will lead him into many other business ventures throughout his life.
Christian has a strong dedication to his community and serves on the Board of H.O.M.E in Chicago, an organization dedicated to affordable housing for low income seniors. In addition, he was elected to the Oak Park Library Board in 2017 and served as Finance Officer, overseeing a 10 million dollar budget until 2021.He also sits on the Board of The North Avenue District Board. In his free time he volunteers for grassroots advocacy organizations, helps future entrepreneurs develop their business plans and watches Chicago sports with his friends and family.
The impact of poetry and the spoken word club
I transferred into Oak Park River Forest High school from a very small private school on the South Side of Chicago where I had gone to school with the same people since I was 3. Needless to say, entering a building with over 3200 students I did not know was very intimidating. Spoken Word club is where I began to find myself, my tribe and community. Spoken Word club taught me how to articulate my thoughts and ideas clearly and with conviction. This has helped me tremendously as I’ve navigated being a community activist, running for political office twice, opening up two businesses and much more. I can never fully sum up all Spoken word has done for me, but simply put, joining Spoken Word Club was one of the top 10 decisions I’ve made in my entire life
Top favorite poets or lyricists
Poet: James Baldwin Gwendolyn Brooks, and Langston Hughes
Lyricists
Nas- Illmatic is the rap Bible, nothing more to be said.
Gucci - An unparalleled work ethic combined with witty lines, perfect flows and adlibs that influenced a whole generation . His career has made so many other careers possible from Migos, 2chainz, Young Thug, Pooh Shiesty, Shorty Lo on and on. Simply put he's my favorite rapper of all time.
Jay Z- No explanation needed, some of the best flows and bars I've ever heard, combined with his longevity in the game, he’s easily the greatest rapper of all time.
Connect with Christian FB
Writing Prompts
Write about a mistake you made that you wouldn't take back
Write about a time you needed space from someone you love(d)
Write about something you let slip away for better or for worse
Begin a poem with “____ are like scars”