Garphil “Geechie Dan” Bowles grew up on the south side of Lawton, Oklahoma, in a poor neighborhood called Lawton View. At an early age, he was introduced to a life of crime, and he went on to get his Master’s degree at the “University of Concrete.” He would proudly wear the title of gangster, pimp, drug, and dealer, and he has been accused of many crimes from larceny to murder. Geechie Dan has spent over twenty-eight years of his life in and out of Oklahoma’s prisons including some of the state’s toughest and most vicious correctional institutions. It is by the grace of God that he is alive today and has managed to stand tall through it all.
Geechie’s life was in jeopardy at the age of 21, when he was shot in the face with a shotgun by a man who feared him. He was blinded by the blast. However, the Lord granted some sight to return later over the years.
Now older and wiser he lives a quiet life spending time with his family and closest childhood friends. In his spare time, Garphil works to inspire young black brothers and sisters to lead a productive life instead of settling for a tempting life of crime. With his message, he works to educate younger generations that there is a better way than gangs, pimping, drug dealing, or prostituting.
Garphil tells all the young people he encounters to face life with your head held high. That way you can see where you are going, and always take Jesus with you. Friends, family, women, and men leave, and they may turn their backs on you, but Jesus will never leave you, nor will he turn his back on you.
GARPHIL GEECHIE DAN BOWLES 