TUSCALOOSA-- In the belly of Tuscaloosa City Hall, Councilwoman Raevan Howard spends hours of her week in the office she shares with another councilor, working to ensure the best possible outcome for her community in a number of situations. An array of papers filled with unfinished work sit atop her large desk and her children’s artwork litters the walls above her. Howard devotes her life to her children, her social work, and public service to the town where her roots run deeper than the Alabama dogwoods.
Howard grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and even though she traveled frequently she decided to settle her career and her family in the deep south.
“I’ve been a lot of places, including New York City. Being a Southern girl I knew I wanted to stay in Tuscaloosa. I like the Southern style, the Southern hospitality, the smaller city,” Howard said. Howard attended Central High School, Shelton State Community College and the University of Alabama so she has a close personal attachment to her constituents. At Central High School, she organized a protest that made the national news. This was the beginning of her own involvement in local politics but it wasn’t her first exposure to the world of politics.
Growing up, Howard’s father was also a Tuscaloosa city councilor.
“I am a daddy’s girl,” she said. “He definitely inspired my interest. My father has been involved in local politics ever since I was in elementary school, from PTA to just being involved in local government.”
Howard said she has always had a very close bond with both of her parents. “My mom was always right there by my dad’s side through political campaigns and through social events and community events, my parents always inspired me to be a community leader,” she said.
Howard never wants her three children to feel like their lives revolve around her political career, so she spends much of her limited time in between her careers in local politics and social work supporting her kids in their various activities. All three of her children are involved with Cub Scouts, her two daughters take piano lessons and her middle daughter takes gymnastics. “We never get home before 8 o’clock. My middle child would say ‘well that’s the life of a politicians child,’ but I try to help them have things that they like to do on their own,” she said about her family’s busy schedule. “I remember how it felt being a child of a politician that had been defeated." After she made the decision to run for councilwoman she told her children, “If I win we’re going to be happy, but if I don’t win we’re not going to be too upset.”
Despite her busy lifestyle, Howard is devoted to being a local politician, a social worker and a mother, equally. “When you really have a passion for what you do you stay busy,” Howard said.
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