Meet State Representative Carol Ammons

State Representative Carol Ammons serves the People of the 103rd district in the Illinois House of Representatives. First elected in 2014, she is currently serving her sixth term. She has served in a number of leadership roles in state government, including her tenure as the Joint Chair of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, a founding member of the Illinois Progressive Caucus, leading the Small Business, Tech and Entrepreneurship as chair, and her current chairwomanship of the Energy and Environment Committee.

As State Representative, Ammons has focused on criminal justice reform, creating an economy for everyone - not just the rich, protecting our environment, and making education accessible for all. Ammons was critical to Illinois becoming the first state to eliminate cash bail, the legalization of marijuana, the decriminalization of AIDS in the state, and protecting our natural world from the pollution corporate interests have sought to impose on critical resources like our Mahomet Aquifer.

Representative Ammons has spearheaded the effort to address the historic harms of racism. The We Charge Genocide resolution, HR906, urges the United Nations Human Rights Council to pass a resolution denouncing and charging the United States with the crime of genocide against its Black population and calls upon the U.N. General Assembly under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to assure the safety of the 42 million Black people in the U.S. 

The Representative also led the effort to create the DNA Pilot Project, HR453, that provides African Americans residing in Illinois with free DNA testing, as lineage and family history information were stolen from residents as a result of enslavement. The Representative continues to champion the State’s push to return the Benin Bronzes, the historically relevant property of the Benin Kingdom, to their rightful owners: the people of the Benin Kingdom. 

In recognition of her public service, Representative Ammons has been honored with a number of leadership-oriented awards. Most recently, President Joe Biden named Ammons a recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her lifetime of work. She was also named a Color of Change Thurgood Marshall Award for Public Service for Fair Education in 2022, the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation Legislative Leadership Award in 2021, and the National Shining Star Award from the National Organization of Black-Elected Legislative Women in 2019.

In 2023, Representative Ammons was crowned by King Tamakloe of the Anlo Kingdom of Ghana as the first African American Queen Mother of the Volta region. This recognition, and Ammons’ receiving her ancestral African name of Aguadze, are a testament to the commitment she has to the reparatory justice needed for African diasporans in the State of Illinois. 

Prior to serving in the state legislature, Ammons served on the Urbana City Council and the Champaign County Board. She spent many years as an activist and community leader at the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, Courage Connection, and other organizations before her career in public office.

Ammons is married to Aaron Ammons, who serves as Champaign County Clerk and Recorder. She is also a proud mother and grandmother.