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Renitta Shannon

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Renitta Shannon
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 84th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2017
Preceded byRahn Mayo
Personal details
Born
Renitta Shanbay Shannon

(1979-12-29) December 29, 1979 (age 44)
Florida, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materUniversity of Florida
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionBusiness development consultant
Websitehttps://renittashannon.com

Renitta Shanbay Shannon (born December 29, 1979)[1] is an American politician who currently serves as a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives.

Shannon is a community activist, former executive vice president of the state chapter of the National Organization for Women, and co-founder of a Georgia nonprofit called Her Term. Shannon is the first bisexual legislator from Georgia.

Early life

Shannon was born in Virginia and grew up in Central Florida with her sister in a religious household. Her father was a pastor[2]. During college, Shannon worked as a restaurant server, earned scholarships, took out student loans, and with the help of her parents, she graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in sociology.[3]

After college, she worked in the mental health, financial services, and technical recruiting sectors where she focused on business development[4]. She spent most of her free time as an activist on racial justice, economic justice, criminal justice, and equality issues, including as an organizer for the Georgia chapter of 9to5.

Career

She defeated incumbent representative Rahn Mayo in the Democratic primaries in 2016,[5] and won the seat unopposed in the 2016 election.

Shannon decided to run for office "to fight for policies that truly support women, working people, and people of color[6]". She has been recognized for her work combating systemic injustices against black and brown voters, the LGBTQ community and women.

Fighting for marginalized communities

Shannon is a known advocate and ally for underserved communities in Georgia. She is the recipient of "Champion of Immigrant Rights Award" by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice for her work with immigrant communities. She also advocates for workers rights, having participated in rallies to hold companies accountable for paying poverty wages.

Women's rights

In her first year as a legislator, Shannon was awarded "Most Valuable Legislator"[7] for her work on sexual assault policy. She has co-written about the need to turn the #MeToo movement into real policy[8] and used her identity as a black bisexual woman to advocate for politics that protect gender nonconforming girls in the criminal justice system[9] and reproductive rights.

Shannon has also been vocally advocating for women's rights in the workplace. She supports the Affirmative Action plans and policies that would help women and minorities pursue equal opportunities[10].

Reproductive rights

Shannon has been an active advocate for women's reproductive rights that encompasses healthcare, economic justice and equality. She has been outspoken about advancing reproductive freedom[11], is a member of the Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council[12], and serves on the board of Spark Reproductive Justice.

In 2019, Shannon was physically removed from the Georgia General Assembly's House floor by security during her dissent against Georgia House Bill 481, a bill that outlaws abortion[13]. "I was not going to just let them pass this like some tax bill that nobody cares about[14]", says Shannon.

Leadership roles

For her 2019–2020 term, Shannon is the Chair of the House Democratic Criminal Justice Reform Committee and is a member of the Governmental Affairs, Small Business Development, and Insurance committees.[citation needed]

Shannon is also the co-founder at Her Term[15], a political nonprofit that recruits and supports progressive women to run for office. She serves as senior advisor and mentor to many progressive women candidates in Georgia.

Personal life

Shannon had an abortion her senior year of college, a decision which she has written about.[2] In 2017, Shannon came out as bisexual.[16] Of this, she says "as a black, queer woman I live at the intersection of these identities, and I know that those of us who exist in these spaces fall through the gaps. We need to have more folks at the convergence of identities to ensure that the legislation we write serves the range of these perspectives. I ran to allow voices to the communities that are often denied representation in the legislation[17].”

References

  1. ^ "Renitta Shannon". Georgia House of Representatives, June 11, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Rep. Renitta Shannon On Her Abortion & What Politicians Are Doing To Protect Rights". Elite Daily, May 10, 2018.
  3. ^ "Renitta Shannon's Biography". Georgia House of Representatives, June 11, 2019.
  4. ^ February 1, Dallas Duncan AtlantaGeorgiaNewsPolitics; 2018 (2018-02-01). "Georgia state Rep. Renitta Shannon on coming out, amplifying bisexual voices". Georgia Voice - Gay & LGBT Atlanta News. Retrieved 2021-08-31. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Renitta Shannon’s Big Primary Victory; Lopez to be First Latina in State House". Atlanta Progressive News, May 30, 2016.
  6. ^ "I'm A Black Woman & An Elected Official, & I Had An Abortion. I'm Here To Tell My Story". Elite Daily. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  7. ^ Nichols, John (2017-12-20). "The 2017 Progressive Honor Roll". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  8. ^ "These 7 Lawmakers Want to Turn #MeToo Into Real Policy". Time. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  9. ^ State, Honorable Renitta Shannon-Georgia (2018-06-14). "Pride Month: Why It Matters to Elect Queer Black Women to Public Office". The BGG to Politics. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  10. ^ Press Conference State of the Supreme Court 2018 - Rep Renitta Shannon, retrieved 2021-08-31
  11. ^ Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council: Rep. Renitta Shannon, retrieved 2021-08-31
  12. ^ Nelson, Rebecca (2018-01-11). "How State Legislators Across the Country Are Joining Forces to Fight for Reproductive Rights". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  13. ^ Rep Renitta Shannon's Dissent HB481 Abortion, retrieved 2021-08-31
  14. ^ Rep Renitta Shannon Abortion Dissent Ad, retrieved 2021-08-31
  15. ^ "Her Term-Leadership". Her Term. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  16. ^ "Georgia state representative comes out as bisexual". The Georgia Voice, October 11, 2017.
  17. ^ Her Term (2020). Reaching the Tipping Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Women in Georgia Politics. Georgia: Her Term. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-578-78628-5.
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