Harmon Champions Woonsocket “You have to try to shed as much light of positivity in society since there’s so much negativity and so, if anybody asks me, I’m going to boldly speak about what I’m trying to accomplish both personally and professionally,” she said. We’ve got to put some type of goodness in the world.”

https://www.valleybreeze.com/news/history-making-harmon-finds-community-connectivity-in-woonsocket/article_f2780386-1d07-11ef-903a-1716733878e4.html 

WOONSOCKET – As part of Stages of Freedom’s African-Americans in Military History Month, the non-profit is saluting long-time city resident Sharon Harmon, the first Black soldier to achieve the rank of colonel in the Rhode Island National Guard.

Throughout her distinguished career and community activism, Harmon has focused on diversity and inclusion, forging a path for those coming up behind her.

In 1979, her father sent her from her native South Carolina to visit his sister and three nieces in Woonsocket. Harmon says she loved encountering so many types of people.

“I had never heard of a Cambodian, never heard of Asians, the Puerto Ricans, and it was just great to have so many different diverse people to hang out and to play with,” she said.

Back home as an only child, she said she missed the “connectivity” she felt in Rhode Island, and it was that and the freedom of living with other girls that finally enticed her return the day after high school graduation. She has lived in Woonsocket ever since.

Harmon enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves in 1985 and transferred to the National Guard in 1993 to attend officer candidate school. She has served in many roles, earning multiple awards.

Harmon made history as the first female African-American to achieve the rank of lieutenant colonel at the National Guard, then made history again as the first Black soldier promoted to colonel in August 2022.

“When I meet with leadership now, I’m still the only Black individual at the table. However, I don’t feel excluded,” she says. “Leadership seems to be open to diversity…and feel that I’ve earned my seat at the table.”

Harmon is now the National Guard’s joint resiliency director, where she has built upon the family program to include two other efforts: the Resilience Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention Department and the Integrated Primary Prevention Program, designed to help service members and their families feel stronger and avoid drugs and alcohol.

One of her favorite roles is serving as mentor.

“I want others to achieve that goal of colonel … so I’d like to help anyone looking for help, regardless of color or gender, and I know that there’s a need for a diverse group,” she said.

Because she plans to retire next year, Harmon especially encourages women.

“I’m constantly talking with some of those ladies … behind me to let them know to keep pushing, keep driving, helping me to… pave the way for the future generation,” she said.

Harmon’s Woonsocket roots run deep now, having raised her children here, both of whom plan to remain in the area after college.

With her master’s degree in education, she taught special education for the Woonsocket School Department and says she is proud of her involvement in community groups such as the Children’s Crusade and the NAACP. This year, she joined the Rhode Island Coalition of Black Women and is excited about its LEAD program where she mentors a group of young Black girls.

“I enjoy learning from them while I try to give them some of the things … that helped me get over any hurdles or difficulties,” she said.

As a member of the Woonsocket Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board, she reviews city policies and procedures to seek out racism and bias.

“If we don’t invest our time into the city we live in, no one else will, and if you want it to be productive and you want it to be a great city, we have to do all we can, even when it’s moving slow,” she said.

Harmon sums up her service with a characteristically hopeful outlook.

“You have to try to shed as much light of positivity in society since there’s so much negativity and so, if anybody asks me, I’m going to boldly speak about what I’m trying to accomplish both personally and professionally,” she said. We’ve got to put some type of goodness in the world.”