We talked with five powerful women in Middle GA politics. Here’s what they’re doing
Powerful women have shaped the entire world, and Middle Georgia is not short on women who work to make their communities a better place to live.
The Telegraph has chosen five local women in politics to highlight to celebrate Women’s History Month.
If someone was left out of this list, people can nominate powerful women in their communities in the Google form below.
Anita Reynolds Howard
Position: Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney
Elected: Nov. 3, 2020
Years in Middle Georgia: Born and raised in Middle Georgia
What are your goals?
“The goals are to build the community’s confidence in what I believe is a broken criminal justice system, specifically here in Middle Georgia, and the way that we are doing that is through transparency and accountability.
“We want to make sure that we are promoting equitable outcomes for all, and those outcomes... should not be based on race, should not be based on socioeconomic status, and so looking at each case on an individual basis, and making sure that justice is being served.”
Who inspires you?
“My late father, Willie Reynolds. He passed in December. My dad, he loved God. He loved his family, but he also loved and sacrificed for people. He served as a public servant, and he was a living example of what it meant to be a public servant leading in excellence for all people, and that’s definitely what I aspire to do each and every day.”
What is your hope for Middle Georgia?
“As the first female and the first African American district attorney, my hope is for our community, our young people, to see leadership of excellence that they can relate to and they can also aspire to become. I may be the first, but I want to assure that I won’t be the only, and I think the way that you do that is leading by example, being intentionally engaged in the community.”
Fenika Miller
Position: Organizer, activist and entrepreneur
Years in service: More than 20 years
Years in Middle Georgia: Born and raised in Houston County
What are your goals?
“So, the crux of my work, particularly since 2012, has been to teach women and girls how policy affects their lives, and we do that through civic engagement, youth development, and community engagement.
“We still in Houston County only have one Black woman in elected office, and representation matters. So how we put women and girls in the room with their elected officials and teach them how to advocate for themselves is really where we continue to focus our efforts.
Who inspires you?
“There are so many. If I had to think of a woman in politics, in local politics, it’s not just one, it would be any woman, particularly any woman of color and Black woman who placed her name on the ballot in the last 10 years despite what Houston County politics looks like.
“Always Ms. Ada Lee, who was a great mentor of mine. At times when you want to kind of stop doing the work because it just seems insurmountable, she would always say, ‘We have to keep fighting even for those individuals who don’t know that they need someone to fight for them.’”
What is your hope for Middle Georgia?
“Again, it goes back to representation. I hope that we can continue to shift into that role. We saw the 2020 election cycle where we had Erikka Williams and Angela Anderson that were on the ballot... all amazing women candidates on the ballot.
“I hope that we can continue to focus on the issues, continue to recruit and encourage more women to run for elected office and to support them when they do place their names on the ballot.”
Elaine Lucas
Position: Macon-Bibb County Commissioner
Years in service: More than 30 years in elected office
Years in Middle Georgia: Born and raised in Macon-Bibb County
What are your goals?
“My goal has always been to work to provide a seat at the table for the underserved, and so I always felt like I needed to respond to service requests, especially in those areas that were underserved. I want to make sure that our recreation plan is fully implemented and all of those projects that have not been finished, that they will be finished because I’m term limited. So, I will be coming off in four years. This is my last (term) serving.
“I want to make sure that I give my support to the community prevention programs that are implemented in the community to start helping to save children…. I also want to make sure that Macon continues the trend toward financial security and financial solvency so that we continue with our promises to not raise taxes, keep them in reasonable range.
“I want to continue the efforts to clean up sections of Macon that have been neglected for so long, including sections in the district that I represent.”
Who inspires you?
“My husband (David Lucas) really does inspire me. He has been an elected official for 45 years. He was elected before we got married, and I’ve seen him tackle some really tough issues in the community…. He really has inspired me over the years. He’s been my support system, and he is very unselfish in his service. He serves whomever it is who calls him.
“My parents really inspired me as well and taught me to be tough and taught me to look out for people because everybody doesn’t have the courage to speak up on their own behalf. Being in the position that I’m in, they taught me and David says, my husband, says as well, that a lot of people just don’t feel comfortable advocating for themselves. So, since you’re in a position to help people, people have trusted you as an elected official for almost 30 years, and so, you’re in a position to give back. I’ve always tried to tackle the tough issues and give back to people, in other words, to be their seat at the table and their voice.”
What is your hope for Middle Georgia?
“My hopes are that we will realize our potential, that we will start working together a little bit more and that we will make sure that all resources are spread over the entire community so that everybody benefits from their tax dollars.
“I want to make sure that we have a system in place and leadership in place that looks at all of Macon equally and disperses resources all over this community based on need and also based on the fact that we value all of our citizens.”
Sheknita Davis
Position: Founder and Director of the People’s Advocacy Group, Director of Community Engagement at Bibb Mount Zion Baptist Church
Years in service: The nonprofit organization started two years ago.
Years in Middle Georgia: Born and raised in Macon
What are your goals?
“My nonprofit organization is focused on civic engagement, community, accountability, citizens’ rights, and restoring cultural identity, and so after the election, which we focused heavily on making sure that people understood that they’re important in the civic engagement process... now that the elections are over, how do we continue to keep people involved in the civic engagement process?
“We’re going to be starting some neighborhood civic engagement opportunities. Hopefully, COVID begins to die down and the numbers continue to decrease, but a grassroots effort to make sure that people are aware of how their voice continues to matter in the day to day decisions that involve our government…. We plan on being more hands on in neighborhoods to ensure that the momentum that was gained during the election,... protests and things like that, that it continues to have momentum and we don’t lose that momentum.”
Who inspires you?
“For me, we have a local hero that I think doesn’t get enough recognition... Miss Hester Bivins is a person that I have studied and her story about her wanting her children to have a great education, and her son, Bert Bivins being the first Black person to integrate schools and her fight to make sure that we were integrated. So, I would say, on a local level, it’s Hester Bivins, but of course, nationally known icon would be Shirley Chisholm.”
What is your hope for Middle Georgia?
“I really hope that our community can understand and begin to value and love every person. We should not have anyone in our community that is looked over or doesn’t feel important, doesn’t feel empowered, doesn’t feel a part of the community, and we do that by making sure that the least, the last and the lost of us, the weaker members of our society is taken care of and provided. We do that by taking care of our homeless. We do that by making sure not only that we have jobs that are available in our community, but people have access to those jobs, that people have the skills to get those jobs.
“So it is my hope that we become a community where everyone is able to thrive, not just a certain portion of town or a certain demographic of people, but where everyone is able to thrive in the neighborhoods that they live in.”
Claire Cox
Position: Co-lead Middle Georgia Immigration Coalition, Co-lead Georgia STOMP, member of the local Comprehensive Civil Rights team in Macon
Years in these positions: 2-3 years
What are your goals?
“Most of my work is related to the protection of civil liberties and civil rights. It could all be considered civil rights work in some form or another. For me, the work relates to... protections for our immigrant community, work to advance menstrual equity and eliminate period poverty in the state and then comprehensive civil rights protections that are needed both at the state level and local level.”
Who inspires you?
“My mother (Helen Rogers) has always been a big inspiration for me. She’s an educator that went beyond knowledge and was always about action, and she taught me how to be a person of action... She died almost a year ago now.
“She had amazing organizational skills, which I was lucky to inherit and learn and passion for whatever, she sunk her teeth into. So yeah, I must stick with my mother. I’ve got other women that came to my mind, politicians and different leaders, but nobody influenced me more than her.
What is your hope for Middle Georgia?
“I want us to move more and more into a place where all voices and perspectives are heard, but not only heard, responded to with policy and laws and… institutions.”