Editor’s Letter

Life is a Vapor

Dr. Davin D. Clemons

First, Happy New Year Y’all!! Secondly, life is so short and fragile. People are dying every second and minute of the day! For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Living knowing that your life is a vapor is different than just living. I have experienced several deaths in the first couple of days in 2023 and I will be literally preaching my first funeral on Saturday January 7th; so, remember “Life is a Vapor.” The text that I will be preaching from is James 4:14, “that life is "even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (NKJV), it is important to look at the larger context of the passage. In this passage, James is talking about people who live in the confidence of themselves. They take for granted that each day is given to them and that their own plans will work out. They do not live depending on God for their needs because they are confident in their own plans and ability. They do not consider whether their plans are pleasing to God, nor are they making time to serve others. This attitude stems from their belief of a

guaranteed life.

While we are young, our time on earth seems like an eternity, but truly our days are like a vapor, here one moment and gone the next. A vapor cannot make its existence last any longer, and it leaves the space it occupied virtually unchanged. James is pointing out the self-importance we give to our lives and our plans without considering eternity.

So, with all of this in mind what are we waiting on? Why are we making New Year resolutions and doing nothing to change the situation? Why are we still mad at family, friends and enemies when life is a vapor! Practicing gratitude can be a game-changer: it has far reaching effects, from improving our mental health to boosting our relationships with others. Living your life with gratitude helps you notice the little wins which in turn

create a web of well-being that, over time, strengthens your ability to notice the good. Remember Life is just a vapor!

ORDER IN THE HOUSE!

Q: WHEN YOU SAY YOU WILL DISRUPT POLICY AS USUAL, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "POLICY AS USUAL"? AND WHAT, FOR YOU, DOES DISRUPTING IT LOOK LIKE? A: My campaign slogan was "Disrupting politics as usual" and the politics as usual was the lack of respect and support for progressive Black women when we run for office by political parties and political infrastructure specifically the ideas of electability, the politics as usual of giving lip service to campaign platform issues without any actual lived or professional experience or track record of leading on those issues, the politics as usual of candidates being selected during Special Elections by local party committee members instead of by the voters, the politics as usual within our state legislature whose members demographics do not represent the demographics of the residents of our Commonwealth but laws are passed that directly and negatively impacted our most marginalized communities and the politics of usual of Black women holding our American democracy on our shoulders in every single election in every election cycle but without the political power or representation to reflect this reality.

My presence as a progressive Black masculine of center lesbian woman is

disruptive. I am the first out lesbian ever to serve in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the first woman to represent my district ever in over 50 years. I am also a long-time community organizer, so my decades of leadership have always been about putting marginalized people at the center of my work. This will remain true in my role as Pennsylvania State Representative, my constituents and residents will have a knowledgeable, resourceful, and solutions-driven leader to support them in their daily needs and larger vision for a just community, city, and region.

My presence is a disruption to our local and statewide politics because I am still an “atypical” candidate in the eyes of the political machine regardless of all the important work I have done in this district, across Pennsylvania and nationally. I was considered a long shot in my race and the odds were indeed stacked against me, but I knew I could win my race as did my supporters. I knew it was my destiny and no one can get in the way of your destiny. I understand the assignment of delivering for those I serve as State Representative, and I can organize my constituents to confront systems and institutions of power. I disrupt politics by intersecting my role as a state legislator, expanding statewide infrastructure for electoral justice, and expanding important movement-building work as community organizer.

Q: WHAT'S BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT SO FAR IN YOUR SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISM AND POLITICAL POLICY BACKGROUND?

A: I have been blessed to have many proud moments in my background and if I had to name my "Top 5," I would name the following:

1. Founding, leading, and expanding New Voices for Reproductive Justice in 2004 with three incredible Black women in

the City of Pittsburgh that ultimately was the catalyst for movement-building for the Human Right of us all to control our bodies, sexuality, gender, work, reproduction, and ability to form our families specifically throughout the Rust Belt and Mid-Atlantic regions of America.

2. Legalizing civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ residents in Allegheny County by co-leading a coalition to pass the Non-Discrimination Ordinance in 2009 which prohibited discrimination in housing, and public accommodations based on sexual

orientation and gender identity.

3. I am proud of local, state and national work for healthcare access

that began with the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 that

led to actually enrolling women and LGBTQ+ folx in the healthcare exchange to increasing access to more affordable contraception to suing the Pennsylvania Department to full health care through the ACA to passing statewide legislation to end the shackling of pregnant incarcerated inmates to defeating multiple abortion bans in Pennsylvania and Ohio to fighting for Black maternal health locally, statewide and national and ultimately permanently extending Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 1 year;

4. Organizing the #SayHERName March in Philadelphia in June 2020 which was the largest action organized by New Voices for Reproductive Justice in honor of Breonna Taylor, Dominique "Rem'mie" Fells and Nalani Johnson; over 1,000 people attended this March which was in response to the lack of attention and action when Black

women, femmes, girls and genderexpansive folx are killed by police, intimate partner or community-based violence and the #SayHERName Justice Fund which provides immediate financial support in the midst of a violent tragedy; and

5. President Biden winning the 2020 Presidential Election based on the

votes of Black women in Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties that carried the victory for Pennsylvania is the direct result of years of integrated voter engagement I led through the New Voices' Voice Your Vote! Project that educated, mobilized and turnedout Black women ages 18-49 to vote in every single election and I directed this work in multiple counties in Pennsylvania and in Ohio.

Q: WHAT IN PARTICULAR INSPIRED YOUR RUN FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE OF PENNSYLVANIA?

A: I have always known that I wanted to run for elected office, and I have been running for elected office since 7th grade. I ran my first serious race for Pittsburgh City Council in 2015 and I lost but it was

the best loss of my life. My decision was also driven by opportunity and timeliness when the previous State Representative vacated his seat to run and ultimately win as the first Black Mayor of Pittsburgh. Open seats are the best times for Black women

and political "outsiders" to run. My Mother, mentor and political inspiration inspired me to run. I am the daughter of a giant - my Mother Charlotte D. Stroud, a single Mother, Army veteran, food service worker and UNITEHERE union member from whom I

inherited my deep-rooted thirst for justice. My Mother passed away in January 2018 and this unspeakable loss has changed the trajectory of my life - giving me strength, power, and purpose like I have never known. I was raised by my grandmother for the first two years of my life while my mother was in the Army and when my mother returned, she had to figure out how to take care of me and my Brother and her Mother. That was my family unit growing up in West Philadelphia. I watched my mother do all that she could to make sure my brother and I had the best opportunities in life and sacrificed greatly so that I could even have a thought about running for elected office. See - my mother told me I could do anything, and I believed her. This motivates my drive. Then she showed me that I could change my community and change the world. The first example of this is when she took me to the Million Women March in 1997 when I was 16

years old. It was the first time I understood the power of Black women, organizing and to speak up for the issues impacting our lives. As I grew into an adult, my mother questioned some of my life choices like my decision to not become a corporate energy lobbyist to take over corporate America. She tried to figure out why I would decide to stay in Pittsburgh instead. What she didn’t know is that there would be a series of events

that would change the trajectory of my life like meeting the founders of New Voices for Reproductive Justice and creating a nationally respected organization that has served and organized over 250,000 Black women, femmes, girls and gender expansive folx over 18 years, or my opportunity to work and serve in state and county government, or recognition for my work that would take me to the White House and meetings with Presidents or that I would find my political voice and run for office twice and not win my elections or that I would build a community in Pittsburgh that has made me who I am to this day that would keep me together after she passed away. My Mother is my ancestor and in my holy trinity along with Shirley Chisholm who by her life and legacy taught me to unbought and unbossed as well as undeterred and she literally came to me in my dream and it was clear as day - she was swearing me into the office and I could not talk about this campaign without talking about Alma Speed Fox the Mother of both Civil Rights and Women’s Rights, a woman before her time who lived a remarkable and

power 99 years of life who saw something in me at the age of 22 that she would encourage me to organize the March for Women’s Lives that would transform my life because it put me on the path to leadership in the national Reproductive Justice movement, it has be one of the greatest honors of my life to sit at her feet for nearly two decades of a woman who ran for office, confronted racist and sexist institutions and

inspired generations to fight for justice. It is this combination of specializing in the wholly impossible, that wakes me up every day to work, lead and serve.

Q: OVERALL, WHICH OF YOUR PLATFORM ISSUES DO YOU EXPECT TO PRESENT THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE AHEAD FOR YOU? WHY?

A: Reproductive Justice will always be contentious, but I am here to be unapologetic about health care, abortion access, Black maternal health, comprehensive sexuality education and so many other intersecting policy issues of reproductive health and rights. I expect resistance from Republican and conservative elements in the General

Assembly to the inevitable culture change led by a new wave and generation of legislators like myself who are bold thinkers who are relentlessly driven by a vision for justice as well as service. My biggest challenge will be accelerating the glacial pace of legislating, policymaking and governing to serve the needs of Pennsylvanians.

I am proud that I have been appointed to be Chair of the Joint Subcommittee on Women

and Girls of Color for both the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus and the Women's Health Caucus. It was a harrowing political journey and a hard-fought victory in the Primary Election for my own campaign and in the General Election where my continued community organizing, and campaigning efforts supported victories up the ballot and across the state. I also think that in general this is a new role for me, and it does take time to learn how to best serve my constituents and the inner workings of Harrisburg and that simply takes time. Once I get a decent lay of the land, I will be able maximize my years of community leadership into tangible changes and wins for House District 24 and Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth.

Q: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHERS WHO ARE STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BRING REAL AND MEANINGFUL CHANGE WITHIN THEIR OWN LOCAL COMMUNITIES?

A: You are ready to run. You are ready to lead. You are ready to change your community and the world. Prepare for the journey personally, professionally, and politically. Know who you are. Choose the elected office you want to run for wisely and strategically with counsel of those with greater knowledge than you. Put in the hard work even when you don't want to or feel like it. Then run to win with

everything in your soul.

La'Tasha D. Mayes for State Representative

PO Box 5483 Pittsburgh, PA 15206 412.475.8354

Photo Credit: Njaimeh Njie