Renitta Shannon

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. In 2016, Shannon defeated a four-term Democratic incumbent with a bold progressive platform. In January 2017, she was sworn into the Georgia State House of Representatives to represent the 84th district.

Shannon is a well-known progressive advocate who utilizes her impactful public platform to fight stigmas and create legislation for marginalized communities. Her experience in community organizing work around economic, racial and gender justice informs her work as a legislator. Shannon speaks on national platforms, about her personal abortion story^[2] and the importance of reproductive justice and freedom. Shannon is also an advocate for LTBGQ+ rights. In 2017, she came out as bisexual,^[3] making her the first bisexual legislator to serve in the Georgia General Assembly.

Early life[]

Shannon was raised in a working class family by her hardworking parents who often worked in minimum wage earning jobs. Her upbringing encouraged her determination to work hard and succeed.^[4] 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.^[5]

After college, she worked in business development for a variety of sectors including mental health and financial services.^[6] 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 various progressive grassroots organizations.

Career[]

She defeated incumbent representative Rahn Mayo in the Democratic primaries in 2016,^[7] 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^[8]". She has been recognized for her work combating systemic injustices against black and brown voters, the LGBTQ community and women.

Working for marginalized communities

A well-known advocate and ally for underserved communities in Georgia, Shannon is the 2018 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 and speaking out against policies that disadvantage workers.^[9]

In December 2018, Shannon led a group of lawmakers to boycott Governor-elect Brian Kemp's first public address. The legislative boycott was in response to Kemp's "gubernatorial campaign of hate against half of Georgia, targeting black and brown voters, the LGBTQ community, and women^[10]".

Fighting for racial justice

The equal and fair treatment of communities of color is central to Shannon's legislative work. This includes tacking the systemic racial and economic biases built into Georgia's criminal justice system, combatting voting restrictions and advocating for better working conditions. She's sponsored bills to increase transparency for police accountability and called for better community relations. Shannon has also been working on Georgia's systemic problems with mass incarceration and school-to-prison pipelines.

Since 2017, Shannon has served on the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Georgia General Assembly that deals with election laws to fight back the encroachment of white supremacy. In 2018, Shannon introduced Georgia House Bill 138, a bill to request that Georgia be placed back under federal preclearance, a voting law approval system that was established by the Civil Rights Act of 1965. She's been interviewed by media outlets to talk about voter suppression in Georgia and bring to light the tactic used by conservatives to largely silence the voices of black and brown voters because "people do need to understand what is going on^[11]," says Shannon.

Advancing women's and reproductive rights

In her first year as a legislator, Shannon was awarded "Most Valuable Legislator"^[12] for her work on sexual assault policy. She has co-written about the need to turn the #MeToo movement into real policy^[13] and used her identity as a black bisexual woman to advocate for politics that protect gender nonconforming girls in the criminal justice system^[14] 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.^[15]

Shannon has been vocal about women's reproductive rights that encompasses healthcare, economic justice and equality. She has been outspoken about advancing reproductive freedom,^[16] is a member of the Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council,^[17] 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 sponsored by Georgia's Republican party to effectively outlaw abortion in the state.^[18] In her effort to stop the bill from coming to a vote, she spoke against the bill and refused to cede the podium. "I was not going to just let them pass this like some tax bill that nobody cares about^[19]", 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.^[20] She continues to serve on these committees for her 2021-2022 term, in addition to serving on the State Planning and Community Affairs Committee.

Shannon is also the co-founder of Her Term,^[21] 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.

The need for better representation is integral in Shannon's work as an activist and legislator. She has written about the importance of electing queer black women into public office^[22] and is quoted to say "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^[23].”

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Legislative homepage