Women’s History Month: Penns Grove Mayor La’Daena Londo Shares Successes, Challenges in Memoir
Photo courtesy of La'Daena Londo Facebook
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is based off an interview Mayor Londo had with Front Runner New Jersey.com Editor Clyde Hughes.
BY NATHALY SUQUINAGUA | For AC JosepH Media
PENNS GROVE – La’Daena Londo’s rollercoaster ride to becoming the first Black woman ever elected a municipality mayor ever in the Salem County, to a racist threat against her by one of her vendors, challenging personal relationships and an “against all odds” write-in campaign to retain her position sound like a plot for a book.
Now, it is.
Londo, formerly Thomas, has continued a book signing tour to promote her memoir “The Campaign of Life,” where she shares her story from the beginning, reflecting her journey that has shaped her leadership.
?In 2020, she made history as the first Black woman elected mayor of Penns Grove, and the first African American woman elected mayor in the 200-plus years of Salem County.
In her book, Londo talked about sharing with a friend about becoming mayor of Penns Grove as a teenager, not realizing the struggle and challenges that lied ahead to make that dream come true.
READ: NAACP Investigating Comments Made About Penns Grove Mayor
Four years later, she won a second term as a write-in candidate, becoming only the second person in 100 years in New Jersey to achieve the victory.
Londo said while the book shares her political travels, it is a memoir looking at how she arrived at this point, from survival, betrayal, resilience, and faith. She said the book is more about the victory of a campaign, but how to get back up and fight after you’ve been knock down to reach that finish line.\
If Londo’s book was set to music, it would play like Carrie Underwood and Ludacris’s tune, “The Champion,” with the lyrics, “I am invincible, unbreakable, unstoppable, unshakeable. They knock me down, I get up again. I am the champion.”
The two-term mayor said, however, she did not start thinking about a book until July 2024 while being hospitalized.
“I said, ‘God, if this is you talking to me, first of all, I don’t know where I would even find the time to write a book. If this is you talking to me, you’ve got to send me a real publisher, a real live publisher, not some publisher, but a real publisher,” Londo told Front Runner New Jersey.
“The next day, my father called me, and he said, ‘I have a publisher who wants to talk to you.'”
?Londo, who was one of Front Runner New Jersey’s “Newsmakers of the Year” in 2024, said from that moment on, she was committed to writing her book from the beginning of her life story. For 40 days, she spent hours writing, stepping away from many of her mayoral responsibilities.
?”I lost a couple of friends because I wasn’t available during their crises,” Londo said. “But you know what? I couldn’t worry about that. I had to finish this book.”
?When she finished the manuscript and sent it to her publisher, she said his reaction reassured her.
?“He told me he had never read anything like that before, and that it really made him feel like he was a part of it, and that’s what I wanted to go for,” Londo said.
Born in San Diego, Calif., Londo says in the book that it was her time in Penns Grove that taught her about strength, resilience, hope – and how to fight for it. She said her biggest inspiration, her late grandmother Sallie Jones, once told her during a rough patch in her first term, “You’ve been knocked down, but not out.”
Londo said she has dedicated the book to her.
“My biggest influence was my grandmother, Sallie Jones,” Londo said. “She had cancer in her leg when she was 18 years old, and she had to get it amputated. When I came along, she had three children she was raising.”
Throughout her political career, Londo has faced significant backlash, including acts of vandalism in public spaces, the unplugging of Christmas decorations, and racist remarks directed at her.
Despite those challenges, she said support from community members, including local churches, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and Penns Grove officials. She said they kept her focused on serving the people of Penn Grove and being the best mayor, she could be.
Londo said in the FRNJ interview that her plans for Penns Grove are rooted in strengthening the community and creating opportunities for future generations. She said that about a half-dozen families have moved to Penns Grove from Philadelphia and other places after seeing the sense of togetherness in the community.
However, she mentioned that some people who do not understand the culture have made negative comments, saying the mayor only wants to party or dance.
According to her, the community’s rhythm, energy, and passion are natural parts of their identity and are reflected in everything they do. She added that if that same fire and passion in young people can be redirected toward something positive, it can lead to meaningful change.
She described the current moment as part of a modern-day civil rights movement in Penns Grove, emphasizing that the work being done today will impact future generations, including children, grandchildren, and those who come after them.
While Londo joked that some of her current dealings “are writing my second book for me,” she remains determined through the words of her grandmother and supporters in the borough and positive about what it has become under her leadership.
More information on “The Campaign of Life,” can be found here.
Nathaly Suquinagua is a bilingual journalist and Temple University graduate who reports on community issues across New Jersey and Philadelphia, with a focus on underrepresented voices. Her work spans local news, culture and social impact, and she has contributed to multiple outlets while reporting in both English and Spanish. She can be reached at suquinagua01@gmail.com
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