A. Leon Lowry

As I write for the blog, I am sitting in front of the TV watching a well prduced show on WEDU about A. Leon Lowry. He was the leading civil rights figure in Tampa who died in August. Fascinating story. I was amazed to find out he was a taught theology to Martin Luther King Jr. According to an article in the Tribune "Lowry was the first black member of the Hillsborough County School Board. He moved to Tampa in 1956 to become a pastor at Beulah and soon served as president of the state National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He organized students from Booker T. Washington Junior High School and Blake and Middleton high schools for lunch counter sit-ins during the civil rights movement. Lowry Elementary School in Tampa is named for him. " State Representative Arthenia Joyner was one of his sit-in students. Tampa's Poet Laureate James Tokely did a nice job poetically narrating the show. It was interesting to see photos of racist Tampa, something you don't see very much. If they show it again, I'd suggest watching it.