John E. Owens, Jr. is celebrated as a history maker during Black History Month who has many achievements under his belt as an innovator and radio announcer in Alabama.
Owens was educated in school systems in Virginia and later in Los Angeles, CA. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1969.
During the 1970s went on to be the personal aide to Dr. Jerome Holland, who was the first Black American ambassador to Sweden. Additionally, Owens served as the first Black mayor of Greensboro from 1997 to 2004.
Owens has received the honor of having the John E. Owens, Jr. Educational & Technology Center in Greensboro named after him in 2002. He has been a music and gospel radio announcer since 1982.
He was known as the "Knockout" at WAJO AM 1310 in Marion from 1982 to 1993.
He has achieved multiple accolades, including being inducted into the National Voting Rights Hall of Fame Museum in Selma.
He was featured in the Roy Wooten Award-Excclesia Gospel Showcase in 2017 and inducted into the American Gospel Quartet Convention Radio Announcer’s Hall of Fame in Birmingham.
He is married to Millicent Cunningham Owens, with children Kena Cochran Selby, Kenyon Cochran and grandchildren Simmer and Sayler Cochran.
Owens is described as a "devoted husband, father, family member and friend to many" and serves as a member of the WZNJ 106.5 FM Team “Supreme Extreme” Gospel Radio Family in Demopolis.
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