NOTE: This is a press release from the Professional Educators of Tennessee, Audrey Shores - Dir. of Communications
The organization will be featuring contributions of African-American leaders in Tennessee on social media and our website. As we started preparing for the project, we realized that readily available resources about the remarkable contributions and fascinating facts of our African American Leaders in the Tennessee General Assembly are virtually non-existent. Bowman wrote biographies of four statewide African-American leaders: John DeBerry Jr., Karen Camper, Johnny Shaw, and Joe Towns Jr. that will be on the organization's website and made available through the media.
As president of the Bradley County Historical Society, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bowman helped lead the effort to promote Black History Month in his Tennessee community. Bowman met and become acquainted with Martin Luther King III, who keynoted the inaugural Black History Month celebration event at Lee University. Bowman said it was three African-American teachers -Helen Miller, Belinda Henley, and Reverend Gulliford "Ron" Hill Jr. - that he had while a student in Cleveland City Schools who helped instill his love of American History.
"We cannot let the next generation grow up without heroes. We must preserve and pass on our history to students who will certainly shape the future," according to Bowman. He added, "the accomplishments and contributions of African-Americans in Tennessee should be recognized, appreciated and studied."