Photographer Andrew Lichtenstein’s photo from the Emanuel AME Church for a 2012 story on the Facing Change history website about the church’s roots in slavery.

Bernard Bowens has been a dietary chef at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, MA for 28 years. But to those who know him, especially his Union sisters and brothers, he’s much more. He has been an activist and leader at his institution since he first donned his chef’s apron.

Today, Bowens, an 1199SEIU delegate, also is a member of the Union’s highest body, its Executive Council. But his road to activism began before his 1199SEIU membership. His union activity began when Cape Cod Hospital was affiliated with Locals 767, 289 and 2020. Local 2020 together with Local 9 in Boston merged with 1199SEIU in 2005.

Bowens says the seeds of his involvement were planted even earlier, in his childhood. “It was in my home in Charleston, SC, and house of worship there – Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church,” he recalls.

Mother Emanuel, as it is called by its parishioners, was the scene of the June 17 slaughter of nine church members by avowed white supremacist Dylan Roof.

“When I first heard the news, I couldn’t believe what was happening,” Bowens says. “That is where I went to Sunday school as a boy. Many members of my family were church members. My mother used to attend the Wednesday night Bible study meetings.”

Roof opened fire on the parishioners after sitting through the Wednesday weekly Bible-study meeting.

Bowens recalls the church as a place where he and his brother not only worshipped but also had fun. “We did things like put pennies that should have gone into the collection box into the cracks in the building,” he jokes. “It was like a second home. As a child, I didn’t know a safer place.”

He also remembers the church as a center of civil-rights and political activities. “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King and Rev. (Ralph) Abernathy all spoke there. Members of the church took part in the 1963 March of Washington,” he proudly recalls. The march was one of Bowens’ earliest participations in the civil rights movement. “It helped to boost my confidence and to show me that we had allies,” he stresses.

He continued his activism in his work life. “When I arrived at Cape Cod I became a delegate,” Bowens says. “And one of the first things I did was assist in restarting the Affirmative Action program.”

He quickly became a leader at his workplace and an officer in his local. But he feels most at home in 1199SEIU. “We are a Union that seeks the participation and input from every member, regardless of their race or ethnicity,” he says. “That is what makes our Union great and that is what makes this country great.”

“The local union should be involved in politics,” he says. “However, it should take care of the union membership in the workplace first. I strongly believe that we have to do both. And to be successful, we have to come together as one.”

Bowens believes organizations like 1199SEIU are the antidote to the evil of men like Dylan Roof, who boasted that he committed the shootings at the Church in an attempt to ignite a race war. “Unfortunately, there are still people like that, but there are more and more who think otherwise,” Bowens says.

And he does not despair. “I am confident because things are changing. For example, so many white South Carolinians came out in solidarity and in mourning for the Charleston victims. I say, ‘God bless those who perished. And let justice prevail.’ And I am confident it will.”

“The movement to remove the Confederate flags also gives me confidence, especially because it’s not just African Americans who are making the demand,” Bowens adds. “Also, the Black Lives Matter movement has shined a spotlight on something that has been going on for so long, but now we have cameras to document it,” he says.

“And I’m encouraged also because our Union has joined hands with these movements for equality and justice. Our Union fights for all and that principle has always been in the forefront of my life.”