(Several current members of Mayor & Council voted against the move, but none have refused to accept the higher pay). After co-sponsoring legislation to raise the minimum wage for all City employees to $15 per hour, khalid fought to raise City Council salaries to $27,000 per year. Low-paying legislatures tend to be less diverse, with f ewer working-class representatives. They are also more likely to write their own legislation, as opposed to presenting legislation written by outside lobbyists. Studies published in 20 found states whose legislators are paid full-time salaries and are given more resources in terms of staff and budget meet more frequently, are more efficient, pass more legislation, have more contact with constituents and are more attentive to their concerns.
(Many families in his original, Old National district are on food stamps as well). However, the demands of building a new city and staying connected to the 15,000 constituents of his Old National district forced him to quit his part-time work as a political consultant and sell his family home.Īs he turned 40 - entering his peak earning years and carrying over $60,000 of law school debt - khalid went on food stamps to continue serving his community. In keeping with his promise on the campaign trail, Councilman khalid has never held another full-time job while in office, even though City Council paid only $13,000 per year. khalid took care of her at home, driving her to and from appointments while campaigning for City Council. Unfortunately, Elsie lost her battle with cancer in 2017, just one month after Councilman khalid was sworn into office.
In 2016, his mother Elsie was diagnosed with State 4 breast cancer. khalid means “Eternal.” kamau, his last name, is common Yoruba first name meaning, “Quiet Warrior.” It is all lower-cased in accordance with a Yoruba spiritual tradition that prioritizes the Community over the individual.įor khalid, that a child activist would one day become an "Eternal Quiet Warrior" prioritizing Community over individuals would grow up in - and one day become the Councilman of - the heart of the largest commercial district of the Blackest City in America is evidence of the divine providence of God.Īfter living and working in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, khalid returned to his childhood home in 2015 to help his mother take care of an aunt dying from congestive heart failure. He selected khalid, the name of a prince who united the Arabian peninsula and defeated European invaders during the Crusades. So when he turned 18 during his first year at college, khalid went down the courthouse - and with the help of a friendly clerk in Fulton County's legal library - changed his name. His quick-witted mother responded: “When you turn 18 you can do anything you want.” At 16, khalid asked his parents' permission to take African name as a way of reclaiming their family's African heritage & culture. For here."īy middle school, khalid - a voracious reader since birth - began studying African History from the books in my father’s library. B orn, raised and educated South Fulton, Georgia, khalid kamau - affectionately known by citizens as Mayor khalid (pronounced cuh-LEED) - is " From here. This self-proclaimed Elected Activist has been f eatured by CBS, The Nation, Jacobin, Governing Magazine and other national media. Mayor khalid ran on a pro-Black, economic development platform that called for halt increases in police spending in favor of funding mental health first responders, public works projects, entrepreneurial programs for youth, and purchasing real estate as a method of increasing community control of land development. With a population that is 92 percent African-American, the City of South Fulton (next door to Atlanta) is the Blackest City in America. In 2021, he was elected Mayor, beating a 20-year incumbent with nearly 60 percent of the vote. A co-founder of M4BL’s Atlanta chapter, kamau led protests against police brutality in 20, resulting in changes to Georgia’s citizens’ arrest law after the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. In 2017, khalid kamau became on America’s first #BlackLivesMatter organizer elected to public office and a founding member of South Fulton, Georgia's city Council.
America's first Movement for Black Lives organizer elected to public office, Mayor khalid is leading a generation of young activists from protests to politics.
0 kommentar(er)
