BWCC President Celebrates Black History Month at Joint Base Andrews

Tuskegee Airman and Emmy Award Winner, Dr. Roscoe Brown, Presents Inspiring Life Story

At 90 years of age, Roscoe Brown uses his wireless microphone to make certain he can move all around the room to engage his audience of nearly 250 people, holding them spell bound for more than 35 minutes.

On 1 February, BWCC President & CEO Walt Townshend had the great opportunity as an Honorary Commander for the 89th Air Wing at Joint Base Andrews to attend the Black History Month Celebration and meet Dr. Brown and hear him speak. Townshend took with him the founder and CEO of First Generation College Bound, Joseph Fisher, whose organization is a BWCC member and on whose Board Townshend has served for over two decades.

Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. was born March 9, 1922 in Washington, D.C. Brown was the younger of two children, his father working as a public health specialist and his mother as a teacher. After graduating from Springfield College in 1943, Brown joined the Air Force, where he served as one of the Tuskegee Airmen. During World War II, he served as a squadron commander and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He, along with two other pilots, was instrumental in shooting down a ME 262 on March 24, 1945 that contributed to the 332nd Fighter Group earning the Distinguished Unit Citation.

Returning after the war in 1946, Brown attended New York University, where he earned an M.A. in 1949 and a Ph.D. in 1951. Before Brown earned his master's degree, he worked as a social investigator with the New York City Department of Welfare and as an instructor in physical education at West Virginia State College until 1948. While working on his doctorate in 1950, he became the director of the Institute of Afro-American Affairs and a professor of education at New York University where he remained for the next twenty-seven years. In 1977, Brown was named president of Bronx Community College, a part of the City University of New York (CUNY), and continued there until 1993. Today, Brown serves as director of the Center for Urban Education Policy at the Graduate School and University Center of CUNY.

Brown is active with a number of organizations, including more than thirty years of service to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. He is also active with the Jackie Robinson Foundation and Libraries for the Future, among many others. Brown is also a founding member of the American College of Sports Medicine. Active in the media, as well, Brown currently hosts a television program, African American Legends, and won the 1973 Emmy Award for Distinguished Program with his weekly series Black Arts. He has published numerous articles, contributed to several books, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the New York City Treasure Centennial Honor from the Museum of the City of NY.

Brown also served as a consultant to the recent movie Red Tails, the film George Lucas spent $58 million of his own money to produce, an action-adventure film about the World War II African-American aviators known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The cast included Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard.