Always Looking Forward

A story of leadership, lineage, and the transformational power of education

James Edward Bowers rose from a childhood in segregated Orangeburg, South Carolina, to become the first full-time African American faculty member at the University of South Carolina School of Law. In his historically grounded memoir, Always Looking Forward, Bowers adds an essential voice to the story of how Black South Carolinians used education as a vehicle for freedom and opportunity.

Bowers's lineage—beginning with enslaved ancestors who struggled to become literate under oppressive conditions—offers objective lessons in education's power. Reflecting on his great-grandfather, who founded a school for the children of ex-slaves, his grandfather, who taught at two historically Black colleges, and his mother, who was fired as a public school teacher for protesting the educational inequality of Black children after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Bowers shows how their determination shaped his own career.

From Fisk University to a newly desegregated USC and Harvard Law School, Bowers forged a path to leadership in government, corporate service, and higher education.