The Tacoma Dominicans recently received the Sr. Thea Bowman Award from the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center (ipjc.org). Sr. Jo Ann Showalter, SP, the Pontifical Commissary of the Dominicans, aka Congregational Leader, introduced the Sisters:
“The Tacoma Dominican Sisters arrived in 1888 in Pomeroy, a small wheat farming community in the Palouse region of Washington State. Many were or are educated as teachers but also a number of the sisters and associates were educated as preachers. If you have ever heard any of them preach, you will recognize how well they speak but more so how well they have integrated and grown into the Spirit and the spirituality to which they were and continue to be called.
“The spirituality by which they have been embraced has also called the Sisters and some Associates to protest human trafficking, to help feed the hungry, to visit those in prison…especially in the federal detention center in Tacoma. In addition, many are working on environmental issues because our Mother Earth is being destroyed. This destruction is globally leaving more and more people without sufficient food, shelter, housing and other resources.”
The Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center (ipjc.org) acts for justice in the church and in the world. IPJC is sponsored by twenty-four religious communities, including the Tacoma Dominicans and the Sisters of Providence, and collaborates with Catholic, ecumenical, interfaith and other organizations in carrying out its mission.
The award is named after Sr. Thea Bowman who was an African American Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration known for her loving and joyful nature while educating others on racial prejudice and other justice issues.
Sr. Thea gave presentations across the country which were lively gatherings that combined singing, gospel preaching, prayer and storytelling. Her programs were directed to break down racial and cultural barriers. She encouraged people to communicate with one another so that they could understand other cultures and races. She died of breast cancer in 1990 and her cause for Canonization has been embraced by the U.S. Catholic Bishops.