Jamaal Bowman
Jamaal Anthony Bowman (born April 1, 1976)[4][5] is an American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 16th congressional district since 2021. The district covers the southern half of Westchester County, including Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and Bowman's hometown of Yonkers, as well as a small portion of the Bronx.
Jamaal Bowman
Bowman is the founder and former principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in Eastchester, Bronx. He defeated 16-term incumbent Eliot Engel in the 2020 Democratic primary and was first elected to Congress that fall. Bowman is a member of the Squad, an informal group of progressive House Democrats.[6] He was a member of the Lower Hudson Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America until 2022, when he departed the organization over disagreements on policy regarding Israel.[c]
On October 26, 2023, Bowman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for willfully setting off a false fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building. In exchange for his guilty plea, the charge was dropped. On December 7, 2023, the House of Representatives voted 214–191 to censure him in connection with the fire alarm incident.[7][8]
Early life and education[edit]
Bowman was born in Manhattan, a borough of New York City. He lived with his grandmother in the East River Houses in East Harlem during the week and with his mother and sisters in Yorkville on the Upper East Side on weekends. His grandmother died when he was eight years old, after which he lived full time on the Upper East Side.[9][10] At age 16, he moved with his family to Sayreville, New Jersey.[10] He attended Sayreville War Memorial High School, where he played on the football team.[11]
Bowman briefly attended Potomac State Junior College in West Virginia before earning a Bachelor of Arts in sports management from the University of New Haven in 1999.[12] At the latter institution, he played college football as a linebacker for the New Haven Chargers.[13][14] Bowman later earned a Master of Arts in counseling from Mercy College and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership from Manhattanville College.[15]
Teaching career[edit]
After earning his undergraduate degree, Bowman decided not to pursue a career in sports management. Upon the suggestion of a family friend who worked for the New York City Department of Education, Bowman began working as an educator. His first job was as a crisis management teacher in a South Bronx elementary school.[10] In 2009, he founded Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in the Bronx.[9][10]
As principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, Bowman curated a "wall of honor" featuring prominent Black, Latino, and Asian individuals. The featured people included Martin Luther King Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Cynthia McKinney, Mutulu Shakur, and Assata Shakur.[16][17][18] Daniel Marans, writing in HuffPost, criticized Bowman for including "a notorious antisemite and two Black militants convicted of murder and armed robbery"; Bowman's campaign spokesperson responded that it is "a rhetorical tool of the far right to insinuate educating students on major figures of Black American history is serving to promote hateful or divisive rhetoric or actions."[16]
Bowman became a leading advocate against standardized testing.[19][20] His blog on the role of standardized testing has received national attention.[19] He has written about high-stakes testing's role in perpetuating inequalities,[21] including the turnover, tumult, and vicious cycle it creates in students' and educators' lives, as assessment performance damages a school's ability to teach and, subsequently, the quality of the education upon which the student is assessed. By the mid-2010s, a quarter of Bowman's students had opted out of standardized testing.
Bowman also advocated for children to receive arts, history, and science education in addition to the basics of literacy and numeracy.[19] Bowman's school policy used a restorative justice model to address the school-to-prison pipeline.[22] After 10 years as principal, he left the job to focus on his congressional campaign.[23]
Personal life[edit]
Bowman lives with his wife, Melissa Oppenheimer, and their three children in Yonkers, New York.[9][68] His wife was upset about his decision to run for office for "the first eleven months", Bowman revealed on an episode of The Carlos Watson Show.[69]
Bowman is a fan of New York hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. He described hip-hop as a "culture that is created by teenagers who were forgotten about, and because they were forgotten about, they were forced to come together and create something beautiful".[70] Bowman drew inspiration from the Wu-Tang Clan during his underdog campaign,[71] and has frequently been seen in a Wu-Tang Clan emblazoned face covering during the COVID-19 pandemic,[71][72][73] which GQ noted allowed Bowman to send voters a message.[74]
From 2011 to 2014, Bowman maintained a blog on which he promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories.[75] After the blog was reported on by The Daily Beast, Bowman said he regretted his posts.[76][77]