ALVIN TESTIMONY BOWNMAN
From Prodigy to Prison to Purpose
Alvin Bowman was once a lacrosse prodigy at Severna Park High School — part of a program with more state championships than any school in Maryland history — before going on to an accomplished college career at Drexel University, where he was later inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of its '80s All-Decade Team.
Armed with a business degree and a warm, gregarious personality, Alvin became a rising star in pharmaceutical sales. But the recreational drug use that started in college slowly deepened into a debilitating crack addiction that nearly cost him his life.
What followed was homelessness, incarceration, and a fall from the corporate world into the streets near Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It's a story of the equal-opportunity destroyer that addiction can be — one that doesn't care what degree you hold or what boardroom you once sat in.
When Alvin's focus finally returned to God, he began writing poetry in 2001 under the name "Testimony" — not as performance, but as survival. It became his way of navigating life's hardest moments. Today, that same writing has become his ministry and his mission: sharing his personal, real-life story with dynamism, flair, and panache to spiritually inspire, uplift, and motivate others.
Alvin is believed to be the only Returning Citizen who has recovered from drug and alcohol addiction, continues to compete in Masters League Lacrosse, and performs Spiritual Spoken Word Poetry and Motivational Speaking — a living picture that recovery doesn't mean the end of ambition or purpose.
FAITH & COMMUNITY
Alvin is a member of Celebration Church in Columbia, MD, under the leadership of Pastor Matthew Quainoo and covering Bishop Robbie Davis. He is active across a wide range of community efforts, including radio and television appearances, youth gospel concerts, church gatherings, and “Stop the Violence” and Voters Registration campaigns with the Baltimore Chapter of the NAACP.
He was selected as an NAACP ACT-SO National Competition Judge in the Performing Arts Poetry category and serves as an active spokesperson for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA Lacrosse). He formerly co-led L.Y.R.I.C. (Liberating Yourself Rhythmically In Christ), the Spiritual Spoken Word Ministry at The Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore, under Dr. Jamal Bryant.
Alvin is also a Russell Simmons HBO Def Jam Poetry finalist, a Gulf War veteran, and an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
MISSION
Alvin's mission is to positively motivate, mentor, inspire, encourage, and uplift the Returning Citizen and Recovery communities, as well as youth, young adults, parents, and coaches — through original, spirit-filled creative expression. He believes “God has done this for me… so He can do the same for anyone.”
