When the Pennsylvania House swore in its first-ever Muslim woman recently, many were surprised — and offended — by the invocation.
Movita Johnson-Harrell, who won her Philadelphia seat in a special election, was sworn in with 55 guests, more than half of whom she said were fellow Muslims. It should have been an exciting day, but she said she and her guests were offended by an invocation before her induction.
Invocations take place before every session and are usually done by local religious leaders. But freshman Rep. Stephanie Borowicz gave the opening remarks on the day of Johnson-Harrell’s swearing-in.
“In under two minutes Borowicz, a Christian, mentioned Jesus 13 times and praised President Donald Trump for his unequivocal support of Israel.
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‘God forgive us,’ she said to her assembled colleagues. ‘Jesus, we’ve lost sight of you. We’ve forgotten you God, and our country. And we’re asking you to forgive us, Jesus,’” WITF reported.
Johnson-Harrell and her guests weren’t pleased with the invocation.
“I knew I was going to receive some discrimination because of my religion,” she said. “Because I’m a hijabi woman. And I am the first…but I did not think it would come on the actual day of my swearing-in.”
She added that she thought Borowicz was “intentionally being offensive.”
Others were also offended by Borowicz’s words. House Minority Leader Frank Dermody said: “It was not meant to bring us together, it was not meant to inspire us, it was beneath the dignity of this House.”
Minority Whip Jordan Harris released a statement that said the invocation was “religion weaponized in the House chamber in what could be considered a gross attempt to intimidate, demean and degrade a Muslim state representative.”
Johnson-Harrell said she would still like to introduce herself to Borowicz, whom she has never met and that she hopes her being elected would encourage more diversity in local government.
“My win in particular is not just momentous because I’m the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature, but because of what I represent,” she said. “Because I come from five generations of poverty, because I’ve had to live on food stamps and public housing, because at one point in my life the only care I got was from Planned Parenthood, because I am a Muslim woman, because I am a Black woman.”
