🖤Cornelia Bowen🖤
Cornelia Bowen is definitely a Power-Pretty Mama you should know about. You can add Ms. Bowen to your list of studies. Especially for young people. Bowen was born on rich soil in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her mother was a slave on the very land that became the Tuskegee Institute. Cornelia owed property. Of course, Cornelia and her mom inherited their last names from a man with the name of Bowen, who owned the plantation, now known and developed as The Tuskegee University. This is a historically black college. Cornelia eventually became an educator with a phenomenal appetite to advance the welfare of her people. Yes! God was with her! Bowen had a mission to treat the minds of little black boys and girls with black excellence. Cornelia left the Tuskegee Institute and founded the Mount Meigs Colored Institute and the Mt. Meigs Negro Boys Reformatory Schools. Her magic was spreading everywhere. Cornelia was very strategic. She was an effective leader. Bowen taught the girls at her school cooking and how to sew. She also taught the boys how to farm and be better husbands. She passionately and powerfully deposited seeds of ownership into their brains. Cornelia Bowen was very active on many boards and clubs. She also was a founding member of the Afro-America Women’s League. Incidentally, Booker T. Washington just happened to be an impactful mentor that she was honored to have.
As Cornelia grew older, she decided to give her schools over to the State of Alabama. Why in the world did she do that? The State of Alabama renamed her schools so many times. The Alabama Reform School for Juvenile Negro Law-Breakers was named by the State of Alabama after they took over management of Ms. Bowen's labor of love. Due to the State of Alabama being in charge of the schools, they went down in every way possible. They stripped away any form of real education. Unlike Cornelia, the State of Alabama could care less about melanated kids. Nothing has really changed. If you have kids in 2023, and you're not attentive to what's going on, shame on you because the school to prison pipeline is alive and well. If Cornelia was still here, she would undoubtedly fight against "them" lusting after placing melanated kids in jail. The "other kids" get counseling and understanding for their behaviors.
There is a lawyer and journalist by the name of Josie Rice Duffy who did some extensive research concerning Mount Meigs. Josie created a podcast called Unreformed to explore the horrific abuse black children experienced when they were sent to Mount Meigs. Josie has contact with some of the kids who are now grown, and they openly discuss what happened to them at those schools. That kind of treatment wasn't part of Cornelia Bowen vision. After the state took over the conditions were awful. The survivors of Mount Meigs said it was like child slavery. It took a turn for the worse. They always want to try testing our humanity.
Cornelia Bowen was the sequel to loving her people. What about you?
There is a lawyer and journalist by the name of Josie Rice Duffy who did some extensive research concerning Mount Meigs. Josie created a podcast called Unreformed to explore the horrific abuse black children experienced when they were sent to Mount Meigs. Josie has contact with some of the kids who are now grown, and they openly discuss what happened to them at those schools. That kind of treatment wasn't part of Cornelia Bowen vision. After the state took over the conditions were awful. The survivors of Mount Meigs said it was like child slavery. It took a turn for the worse. They always want to try testing our humanity.
Cornelia Bowen was the sequel to loving her people. What about you?
