Video: Karriem Looking Forward To Serving In The Capital

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Columbus, Miss. (WCBI) — Next week, Ward 5 city councilman Kabir Karriem will take his seat as the representative of House District 41.

Karriem has served as a Columbus city councilman since 2009.

“I’ve learned a great deal being on the city council. It’s been a very rewarding one and I’m going to miss representing the people of Ward 5…”, said Karriem, “… but I think I’ll be representing them, as well as the rest of the citizens of Columbus and Lowndes County just in a different capacity.”

Karriem said he is looking forward to bringing “fresh ideas and taking up some old issues” while serving in Jackson.

As he promised in his campaign, Karriem will look to lead from the front lines on issues of economic development, mainly granting equal pay for women in the workforce.

At the State Legislature, Karriem will also look to bring new ideas on prison reform, saying, “…once a person [has] paid their debt to society, they shouldn’t have to walk around with a scarlet letter on their chest for a lifetime…”

Karriem hopes to reform is to give those who have committed a crime a second chance at adjusted to society. His plan is to create job opportunities for people who have been convicted of a crime, just as he did as a member of the city council.

Karriem was a part of the council that became one of the first municipalities to hire felons. He also hopes to give convicted felons the right to vote.

Along with prison and criminal justice reform, Karriem also hopes to add ideas to education and worker’s rights.

“I think I was born to hold this position and to continue to try to help people and I know I’m a freshman, I’m not naive to the obstacles and challenges that I face but its a learning process…”, said Karriem, “…I’m willing to take the test until I pass it, and eventually some of those fresh ideas and nuances will kind of correlate to what we need to do.”

Karriem also spoke about his accomplishments as a city councilmen, noting hiring felons as one of the top.

He was also proud of the opportunity the city presented for people around North Mississippi to be a part of President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.

Karriem also said the creation of community centers and recreational parks in Columbus are more achievements he’s glad to be a part of.

Once in Jackson, Karriem plans to open an Office of Constituent Services. He also said he has an “open door policy”, and he looks forward to hearing input from the people he serves.