Kasim Reed

Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia's state capital and largest city, from 2010 to 2018. 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.

In 2014, Reed announced his marriage to Sarah-Elizabeth Langford; two months later, the mayor's office announced the birth of the couple's daughter. Divorce proceedings began in 2019.

On June 10, 2021, Reed declared that he was seeking another term as Atlanta's mayor in the 2021 election. He placed third in the November election, failing to qualify for the runoff election.

Reed was born in Plainfield, New Jersey. His family moved to Fulton County, Georgia, when he was an infant. His family belonged to the United Methodist Church. His father had considered converting to Islam 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 claims descent 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."

An early entrepreneur, by 1989 Reed made $40,000 running a jewelry business which he started at age sixteen. In 1990 he was invited to comment on the Persian Gulf War military buildup on the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Also, in November of that year he was featured in Black Enterprise.

While at college, Reed interned for Congressman Joseph Patrick Kennedy II. During his internship he learned about a federal dollar-for-dollar matching grant program. In his senior year and as the undergraduate trustee on the university's board of trustees, he instituted a $15-per-semester student fee increase to be matched by the federal grant, with monies to be earmarked for the university's endowment. The fees were expected to total nearly $300,000 per semester. The estimate was conservative in the sense that it only assumes the fees from slightly more than 75% of the 12,000 students. The four-year totals would approach a $2.4 million addition to the endowment. Reed earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1991. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law in 1995. In 2002 Reed was appointed as the youngest general trustee to serve on Howard's board of trustees and continues to serve on that board.