Hundreds honor life of Bill Owens, leader of reparations movement, at UMass Boston memorial

Lots of of members of the group, together with numerous native leaders, made their technique to UMass Boston Tuesday for a memorial commemorating the lifetime of Invoice Owens, Massachusetts’ first Black state senator.

Owens, who was elected to the state Home in 1972 and first elected to the Senate in 1974, died earlier this yr on the age of 84.

Owens’ work spanned from combating for racial equality in Boston to seeking to derail apartheid in South Africa to turning into one of many earliest voices to name for reparations for the descendants of enslaved Black Individuals. His legacy was felt within the packed UMass Boston ballroom the place the work of “The Senator,” as he was identified, was on full show.

J. Keith Motley, chancellor emeritus of UMass Boston, stated Owens used to provide an eight-word lesson: Lead, observe or get out of the best way.

“And what he was making an attempt to inform us was, ‘Do one thing,’” he stated. “He saved us in test. … All the best way again there within the ‘70s, he was speaking to us about reparations. And it wasn’t about no 20 acres and a mule, it was about making ready us to be chancellor of an establishment and understanding it didn’t matter what they known as you, it mattered what you probably did. Your work will converse for you.”

Amongst Owens’ many accomplishments was his pivotal work within the improvement of Roxbury Group School and his creation of the State Workplace of Minority and Ladies Enterprise Help. In 1989, he filed laws in search of reparations for the descendants of enslaved Black Individuals.

Talking remotely, Sen. Ed Markey, who was a state consultant alongside Owens, stated the trail Owens paved will act as a shining beacon for years to return.

“Invoice’s presence grounded me within the realities of as we speak’s struggles,” Markey stated. “And his spirit lifted my gaze and numerous others to the alternatives and the justice that we should proceed to pursue for all future generations.”

Amongst those that Owens impressed was Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who additionally spoke remotely on the memorial.

“I don’t assume that it’s an overstatement to say that I might not have been a metropolis councilor, I might not be a member of Congress and the various different historic firsts that we now have seen in recent times because the political panorama of the town of Boston and certainly our commonwealth has shifted to turn into extra consultant. That has all the things to do with the enduring legacy of Sen. Owens,” she stated. “We thank him for blazing that path and for making the street just a bit bit simpler.”

Owens’ work additionally had an affect on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

She recalled how regardless that he supported Kim Janey throughout Boston’s current mayoral race, Owens took time to ask Wu how she and her household had been doing.

“He has fought fiercely for our group as a result of he fights for every one among us as human beings and other people in the beginning,” she stated.

Wu stated that she is grateful to be part of a contemporary era of native progressive leaders that she stated is aware of are solely right here due to Owens.

“Sen. Owens educated us to solid our eyes to the horizon and struggle for each step of the best way to get there,” she stated. “We proceed that struggle as we speak and we proceed to raise up his legacy. Rise in energy, Sen. Invoice Owens.”