Kasim Reed
| Kasim Reed | |
|---|---|
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| 59th Mayor of Atlanta | |
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Assumed office January 4, 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Shirley Franklin |
| Member of the Georgia Senate from the 35th district |
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In office January 2003 – September 1, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Donzella James |
| Succeeded by | Donzella James |
| Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 52nd district |
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In office January 1999 – January 2003 |
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| Preceded by | Henrietta Canty |
| Succeeded by | Fran Millar |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Mohammed Kasim Reed June 10, 1969 Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Elizabeth Reed |
| Alma mater | Howard University (A.B., J.D.) |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Website | Official website |
Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American attorney and politician who is the 59th and current mayor of Atlanta, Georgia's state capital and largest city.
A Democrat, Reed was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002 and represented the 35th District in the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2009. He served as campaign manager for Shirley Franklin's successful Atlanta mayoral campaign in 2001. After Franklin was term limited from the mayor's office, Reed successfully ran for the position in 2009. Inaugurated on January 4, 2010, Reed was elected to a second term in 2013.
Reed was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, but his family moved to Fulton County, Georgia, when he was an infant. He was born and raised in a United Methodist household. His father had considered converting to Islam around the time Kasim was born, during the early years of racial desegregation, and named his son Mohammed Kasim, to the consternation of his minister grandfather. Reed graduated from Fulton County's Utoy Springs Elementary School and Westwood High School, now Westlake High School.
According to a DNA analysis, he is a descendant through African ancestral lines from the Igbo people of Nigeria.
Reed attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1991 with a degree in political science. Students took over the Howard administration building in 1989, protesting having Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater on the university's board of trustees, saying that he had contributed to "growing anti-black sentiment in America" through his management of President George H.W. Bush's campaign. Atwater resigned from the board. Reed disagreed with their action, saying there was nothing wrong with having the Republican Party try to win the votes of black students. He felt it would have been better if Atwater had met with the protesting students, as he might have learned more about their position. For instance, "[he] might have gained insight into a generation of students portrayed as destitute and in need of more federal support." Reed noted "that 85 percent of Howard's 12,000 students receive federal aid."
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