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Jamaal Bowman
Jamaal Anthony Bowman (born April 1, 1976) is an American politician and former educator who served from 2021 to 2025 as the United States representative for New York's 16th congressional district.
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 November. He was a member of the Squad, an informal group of leftist members of the House Democratic Caucus. On October 26, 2023, Bowman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for willfully setting off a false fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building. Bowman paid a $1,000 fine and the charge was later dropped. On December 7, the House of Representatives voted 214–191 to censure him for the fire alarm incident.
A critic of U.S. support for Israel during the Gaza war, Bowman sought re-election in 2024, where he was challenged by pro-Israel candidate George Latimer in the Democratic primary. The race was the most expensive House of Representatives primary in U.S. history. Bowman was defeated by a double-digit margin.
Jamaal Anthony Bowman was born on April 1, 1976, 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 on weekends with his mother and sisters in Yorkville on the Upper East Side. His grandmother died when he was eight years old, after which he lived full time on the Upper East Side. At age 16, he moved with his family to Sayreville, New Jersey. He graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School, where he played on the football team.
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. At the University of New Haven, he played college football as a linebacker for the New Haven Chargers. Bowman earned a Master of Arts in counseling from Mercy College in 2006 and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership from Manhattanville College in 2019.
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. In 2009, he founded Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in the Bronx.
As principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, Bowman curated a "wall of honor" featuring likenesses of prominent Black, Latino, and Asian individuals. Its honorees included Martin Luther King Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Cynthia McKinney, Mutulu Shakur, and Assata Shakur. HuffPost political reporter Daniel Marans 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." Bowman later condemned McKinney's statements as antisemitic.
Bowman became a leading advocate against standardized testing, calling it "slavery". His blog on the role of standardized testing received national attention. He wrote that high-stakes testing had a role in perpetuating inequalities, including turnover, tumult, and a vicious cycle it creates in students' and educators' lives, saying performance assessments damage a school's ability to teach.
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Jamaal Bowman
Jamaal Anthony Bowman (born April 1, 1976) is an American politician and former educator who served from 2021 to 2025 as the United States representative for New York's 16th congressional district.
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 November. He was a member of the Squad, an informal group of leftist members of the House Democratic Caucus. On October 26, 2023, Bowman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for willfully setting off a false fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building. Bowman paid a $1,000 fine and the charge was later dropped. On December 7, the House of Representatives voted 214–191 to censure him for the fire alarm incident.
A critic of U.S. support for Israel during the Gaza war, Bowman sought re-election in 2024, where he was challenged by pro-Israel candidate George Latimer in the Democratic primary. The race was the most expensive House of Representatives primary in U.S. history. Bowman was defeated by a double-digit margin.
Jamaal Anthony Bowman was born on April 1, 1976, 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 on weekends with his mother and sisters in Yorkville on the Upper East Side. His grandmother died when he was eight years old, after which he lived full time on the Upper East Side. At age 16, he moved with his family to Sayreville, New Jersey. He graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School, where he played on the football team.
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. At the University of New Haven, he played college football as a linebacker for the New Haven Chargers. Bowman earned a Master of Arts in counseling from Mercy College in 2006 and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership from Manhattanville College in 2019.
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. In 2009, he founded Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in the Bronx.
As principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, Bowman curated a "wall of honor" featuring likenesses of prominent Black, Latino, and Asian individuals. Its honorees included Martin Luther King Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Cynthia McKinney, Mutulu Shakur, and Assata Shakur. HuffPost political reporter Daniel Marans 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." Bowman later condemned McKinney's statements as antisemitic.
Bowman became a leading advocate against standardized testing, calling it "slavery". His blog on the role of standardized testing received national attention. He wrote that high-stakes testing had a role in perpetuating inequalities, including turnover, tumult, and a vicious cycle it creates in students' and educators' lives, saying performance assessments damage a school's ability to teach.
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