Mohammed Kasim Reed[1] (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.

His father had considered converting to Islam and named his son Mohammed Kasim, to the consternation of his minister grandfather.

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.

[29] Reed served as a member of the House Judiciary, Education, and Congressional and Legislative Reapportionment Committees.

[34] The district includes the southern portion of Fulton County (Atlanta, Alpharetta, College Park, East Point, Fairburn, Hapeville, Mountain Park, Palmetto, Roswell, Sandy Springs, and Union City) and the northeast portion of Douglas County (Douglasville, and Lithia Springs).

[35] Reed won the district's five-way primary on August 20, 2002, with 65.8% of the vote,[34] and then he was uncontested in the November 5, 2002 general election.

[36] In 2004 James challenged Reed for the seat she had held before him, but he won the July 20, 2004 Democratic primary election by a 58.8%–41.2% margin.

[18] A month before the February 5, 2008 Super Tuesday Georgia Democratic primary, Reed endorsed Barack Obama.

[52] According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Reed had a winning majority in the runoff election that seemed destined to be contested by a recount.

[54][55] On December 9 after the completion of a recount Reed was declared the winner by a margin of 714 votes, after which Mary Norwood officially conceded.

This money was instead spent on the police force, as well as on community centers in poor neighborhoods (rather than on reversing the 42% increase in property taxes passed in 2009).

[61] At a February 9 news conference, Reed insisted, "I have never taken a bribe", and gave reporters physical access to 406 boxes of documents that had been demanded by federal investigators.

[61] On August 15, 2018, Katrina Taylor-Parks pleaded guilty to conspiring to accept bribe payments while serving as the City of Atlanta's Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor Kasim Reed for approximately eight years.

[62] Atlanta's top purchasing officer, Adam Smith, received a reduced sentence of 27 months in prison.

[63] In a separate hearing, Mitzi Bickers, the former Human Services Director and campaign advisor of Mayor Reed is accused of taking over 2 million dollars in bribes.

After 2001 changes to the flag which removed this, Governor of Georgia Roy Barnes, who had led the flag-redesign effort, was defeated for re-election; many thought it was the result of the political backlash.

The 1956 version with the Confederate States of America battle emblem, known as a St. Andrew's cross, was a continuing topic of debate for southern heritage proponents.

[65] Reed served as one of Governor Sonny Perdue's floor leaders in debates that led to the ratification of the current (2003) version of the state flag.

[71] This case has been decided in favor of Kevin Cochran and the City of Atlanta has agreed to a $1.2 million settlement.

[72] In June 2015, Reed praised the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of same-sex marriage and ordered Atlanta City Hall to be lit in rainbow colors in celebration of what he called "a momentous victory for freedom, equality, and love.

[75] Reed said that the passage of the referendum would add jobs and alleviate congestion in the city, while "failing to pass the measure would be economically damaging" for Atlanta.

"[76] Mayor Reed's civic leadership and service have been nationally recognized in publications such as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Ebony, and Black Enterprise.

[77] In 2017, the Atlanta Hawks retired the jersey number 59 in honor of Reed who was involved with the team throughout his tenure.