| Movita Johnson-Harrell | |
| State House: | Pennsylvania |
| District: | 190th |
| Term Start: | March 25, 2019 |
| Term End: | December 13, 2019 |
| Predecessor: | Vanessa Lowery Brown |
| Successor: | G. Roni Green[1] |
| Birth Name: | Movita Johnson-Harrell |
| Birth Date: | 21 April 1966 |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Alma Mater: | University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Residence: | Philadelphia |
| Conviction: | perjury, tampering with public records, theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception and contributions of corporations |
| Conviction Status: | on parole |
Movita Johnson-Harrell (born April 21, 1966) is an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 190th district from March to December 2019.[2] [3] She is the first female Muslim member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[4]
She resigned after pleading guilty to various criminal acts related to a charity she worked for. She was sentenced to 3 months in jail followed by 8.5 months on house arrest, 11 months on parole, and 2 years probation.
Johnson-Harrell was raised in poverty in a family that suffered from generations of substance abuse. She received support from welfare and lived in public housing.[5] She earned an associate's degree in behavioral health in 1999. She also earned a bachelor's degree in applied science in 2002 and a master's degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.[6]
Johnson-Harrell worked as supervisor of victim services for the Philadelphia District Attorney's office.[7] She is the founder of the CHARLES Foundation (Creating Healthy Alternatives Results in Less Emotional Suffering) which was established in 2011 after the mistaken identity shooting death of her 18-year-old son, Charles André Johnson.[8] The CHARLES foundation is focused on improving the lives of young people, their neighborhoods and "common-sense" gun control legislation to reduce violence.[9]
Johnson-Harrell was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 190th district on March 12, 2019 during a special election held after Vanessa Lowery Brown resigned due to her conviction on corruption and bribery charges.[10] She was sworn into office on March 25, 2019.[11] During her swearing in, she made headlines after state Representative Stephanie Borowicz made a Christian prayer that invoked Jesus 13 times, praised Trump, praised Israel, and said, "God forgive us — Jesus — we’ve lost sight of you, we’ve forgotten you, God, in our country, and we’re asking you to forgive us, Jesus." Johnson-Harrel criticized this as "weaponized prayer" and as an example of Islamophobia.[12]
In December 2019, Johnson-Harrell pled guilty to charges of perjury, tampering with public records, theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception and contributions of corporations related to her personal use of $500,000 over the course of a decade from a non-profit organization Motivation Education and Consultation Associates. She announced that she would resign from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives due to these charges.[13] In August 2020, Johnson-Harrell was released from prison to begin serving house arrest.[14]