Monique Dionne Davis (née McKay; born August 19, 1936) is an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

, representing the 27th District since 1987 (elected on November 4, 1986). Born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, she trained as and worked as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and an

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

al administrator in the

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...

system before entering politics. She graduated from

Chicago State University Chicago State University (CSU) is a Historically black colleges and universities, predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It includes an honors program for undergraduates and offers bachelor's and master ...

. She is a member of

Trinity United Church of Christ Trinity United Church of Christ is a predominantly African-American megachurch with more than 8,500 members. It is located in the Washington Heights community on the South Side of Chicago. It is the largest church affiliated with the United C ...

Political career

In 1995, after the resignation of Mel Reynolds from the

Congress of the United States The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

, Davis was a candidate in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

for the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. Although Davis received endorsements from previous seat holder

Gus Savage Augustus Alexander "Gus" Savage (October 30, 1925 – October 31, 2015) was an American entrepreneur, publisher and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. He served six terms from 1981 to 1993. Early ...

and

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A centralized and hierarchical organization, the NOI is committed to black nationalism and focuses its attention on the Afr ...

leader

Louis Farrakhan Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a Black nationalism, black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million M ...

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American Civil rights movements, civil rights activist, Politics of the United States, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. Beginning as a ...

was the eventual winner of the primary. In 2003, Davis sponsored legislation which was signed into law and forced

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

companies that do business in Illinois to publish all records they have on historical insuring of

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

s as property through the state's Department of Insurance. This made available a wealth of

genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

information to the descendants of slaves. Illinois became the second state to implement such a law, after

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Davis and Illinois Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

co-sponsored a pair of successful bills in 2003. The first, House Bill 223, mandated that all police interrogations on

homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

investigations be recorded. The bill was motivated by the release of thirteen suspects convicted of murder and sentenced to death who'd later been exonerated by

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

evidence. Previously interrogations could only be recorded with the suspect's permission. The second bill co-sponsored by the pair, Senate Bill 30, required police in Illinois to record the race of all people subjected to traffic stops, to provide information for efforts to eliminate

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

by police. In 2004, Davis sponsored a bill to limit low-income household electricity or natural gas bills to no more than six percent of the household income. In 2005, Davis led the effort to secure funding for the Student Financial Assistance Outreach Center at

when it was threatened with closure. Negotiations with Illinois Governor

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

over his proposed budget for 2006 led to an agreement to fund the center in exchange for Democratic support on the budget. The center received $300,000. In 2006, Davis was re-elected to the Illinois House of Representatives' 27th district after she ran unopposed for re-election. In the 2007-2008 term, Davis served as chair of the Appropriations-General Services Committee, the vice-chair of the Elementary & Secondary Education Committee, the sub-co-chair of the Rapid Growth Districts & Special Education Issues Subcommittee and the sub-chair of the School Code Waivers, Elementary and Secondary Subcommittee. She was also a member of the Appropriations-Higher Education Committee, Committee of the Whole, Financial Institutions Committee, Public Utilities Committee and the Registration and Regulation Committee.

Comments on atheism

The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' reported on April 3, 2008 that Davis interrupted and criticized

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

activist Robert I. Sherman during his testimony before the House State Government Administration Committee in Springfield:

"I don't know what you have against
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
, but some of us don't have much against him. We look forward to him and his blessings ... I'm trying to understand the philosophy that you want to spread in the state of Illinois ... This is the land of
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
where people believe in God ... What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous ... It's dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists ... Get out of that seat! You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon."

Davis' remarks drew great controversy. For example, the

Council for Secular Humanism The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal and to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by ...

said it was "appalled by Davis's apparent belief that atheists and other non-religious individuals are not entitled to the same rights and liberties as other citizens." A director said, "She is unfit to serve in her office, just as a representative who told a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

or a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

to 'get out of that seat' would be unfit to serve. If she does not resign, the Illinois House has an obligation to expel her." That same night,

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

journalist and commentator

Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ra ...

, on his show ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'', declared Davis the "Worst Person in the World," calling on Davis to either apologize or resign.

"Obviously, Assemblywoman Davis owes the witness and everybody in this country who believes in freedom of
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
an apology. And if she can't figure that out, she should resign and take her prejudice with her. She also needs to improve her own education. That phrase, 'this is the Land of Lincoln, where people believe in God'; Miss Davis said that in Springfield, where, when Lincoln first ran for
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in 1846, the future great president was accused by his opponent of being an atheist. You not only spat on the fundamental American freedom to embrace religion, a religion or no religion, Assemblywoman Davis, but you also made a damn fool of yourself in the process. State Representative Monique Davis,
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
of Illinois, today's Worst Person in the World."

On Thursday, April 10, it was reported on ''

Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is a weekday podcast that originated as an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show ...

'', that Representative Davis called him (Sherman) personally to apologize for her remarks, and that he accepted her apology. She stated that she was angry because of the shooting deaths of two students earlier that day.Rob Sherman home page

Blagojevich Remarks

In August 2008, Blagojevich criticized Davis and nine other Chicago Democrats for, in his opinion, collecting dual salaries from the city of Chicago and from the state of Illinois as a lawmaker. Davis said she had retired from her education job three years previously.

References

External links

Representative Monique D. Davis (D) 27th District
at the Illinois General Assembly **By session
98th97th96th95th94th93rd
*
Monique Davis
at Illinois House Democrats {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Monique D. Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1936 births Living people African-American state legislators in Illinois 21st-century African-American women politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century American women politicians Politicians from Chicago United Church of Christ members Chicago State University alumni Women state legislators in Illinois 21st-century African-American educators 21st-century American educators Educators from Illinois American women educators 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly