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Jabari Simama

Senior Contributor

Jabari Simama is an education and government consultant and a senior fellow with the Center for Digital Government. He served two terms on the Atlanta City Council, from 1987 to 1994; as deputy chief operating officer and chief of staff for DeKalb County, Ga., from 2009 to 2012; and as president of Georgia Piedmont Technical College from 2012 to 2018.

Simama received his bachelor's degree from the University of Bridgeport, his master's degree from Atlanta University and his Ph.D. from Emory University. He is the author of Civil Rights to Cyber Rights: Broadband & Digital Equality in the Age of Obama, published in 2009, and has been a columnist for Creative Loafing and Southwest Atlanta magazine and a feature writer for Atlanta magazine. He blogs at Jabari Simama Speaks.

The warrior mentality is perpetuated from generation to generation. An ex-cop’s thoughtful new book suggests pathways for reform.
Federal officials say 16 states have shortchanged their Black land grant colleges by billions of dollars. Equitable funding would benefit not only students at these vital institutions but their states’ economies as well.
Fifty years ago, Atlanta’s Maynard Jackson was elected as the first Black mayor of a major city in the Deep South. His legacy is one that today’s mayors and other public officials would serve themselves well to know about.
Just hiring more recruiters won’t address the issue. By partnering with community organizations that connect with young people daily, some higher education institutions have an opportunity to overcome demographic trends.
Many of our land-use policies have their roots in housing discrimination, and they continue to stand in the way of affordable and equitable housing. These policies need to change. Restricting single-family zoning is a place to start.
Greater investment is key, enabling smaller classes with better-paid teachers, and most state and local governments have the money. But our public schools also need leadership stability and more parental involvement.
Ghana's spirituality informs its approach to governing. It shows up in everything from the way streets are used to the belief that unity is strength.
Even before the Supreme Court's decision striking it down, Black students didn’t have equitable access to elite public higher education. We need to find better ways to extend true educational opportunities to all Americans.
A trip to the birthplace of the blues is also a visit to a region soaked in the history of bigotry and the struggle for civil rights. It’s a past that we need to acknowledge and that today’s students need to learn about.
Community colleges are ideally situated to produce police officers who better understand the delicate balance between acting as guardians and as warriors.