Image by: Courtesy of the Owens family
Bill Owens, the first Black State Senator to serve in Massachusetts’ upper chamber and a former member of the UMass Boston William Monroe Trotter Institute advisory board, passed away peacefully late last week at age 84.
Owens led the life of a trailblazer. Born in Demopolis, Alabama in 1937, he moved to Boston early on in life and made the city his home. He would go on to be elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1974, where he would serve for one term before being elected Senator for the 2nd Suffolk District until 1982, and then again from 1988 to 1992.
During his tenure in elected office, Owens was instrumental in the creation of the Office of Minority Business Assistance and the Summer Youth Jobs Program. He was also one of the first lawmakers to discuss reparations for the descendants of African-Americans who were enslaved.
Owens’ connection to UMass Boston came through his advocacy for progressive issues, his work with the Africana Studies Department, and his service as a member of the Trotter Institute’s advisory board from 2006-2011.