Lynda Blackmon Lowery is the first child of four children born to Alfred Charles and Ludie Wright Blackmon, she is the Widow of Collie C Lowery. She is a mother of two, Danita Christine Blackmon and Bonita Blackmon, a proud grandparent of Grady and Jenese Williams and Cherry Chenell Blackmon and a proud great-grandparent of Bryson Stephan Blackmon. Mrs. Blackmon-Lowery is a lifelong worshipper of the African Methodist Episcopal church, and is a member of the Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church, Selma, Alabama, where she serves as Steward. Mrs. Blackmon-Lowery currently resides in Selma, AL and is a beloved member of the community.
Mrs. Lowery is a graduate of the College of Staten Island. She was previously employed as a Senior Case Manager at Cahaba Mental Health in Selma AL. Her affiliations include, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and Optimist Club of Selma, Order of Eastern Star, President of the Board of Selma Aids Information & Referral (AIR), Alabama Democratic Conference. She is the author of Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom “My story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March”– Lowery’s collaborative project with Elspeth Leacock & Susan Buckley. She has received many awards and honorees. Recently, she was honored as an iconic and historic woman at an intimate celebration at the Mansion of Mayor Mchael E. Duggan on March 19, 2024, where she received a key to the City of Detroit. She received the Theatre Arts & Humanitarian Award at the 2024 International Black Theatre Festival (IBTF) on July 29, 2024; as her book is made available as a musical play. She is selected as one of the 25 honorees of the This is Alabama 2025 Women Who Shape the State and will be honored at the Awards Luncheon on Thursday March 6th, 2025, at The Club in Birmingham, Alabama. She will receive an honorary Doctorate Degree from Carolina Christian College on May 3, 2025.
Lowery has been a witness and participant in some of our nation’s most consequential civil rights battles. She began her civil rights activism in the early 60s. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) activists organized Lowery and other area children and teenagers to participate in the civil rights movement. In the front lines of the struggle, the young Lowery marched on “Bloody Sunday” and “Turn Around Tuesday,” and is the youngest marcher to walk every step of the successful March from Selma to Montgomery. Lowery was beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, that day is now by a more descriptive name, Bloody Sunday. She received a total of 35 stitches for her injuries. Mrs. Lowery’s early involvement in the struggle against “Jim Crow”, American apartheid, has been the foundation for her civil and human rights work throughout her life. Blackmon-Lowery is a much sought after speaker with a compelling personal story of civil rights activism. Mrs. Lowery has presented at conferences, schools, colleges, and workshops across the country.
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