The Honorable Chokwe Antar Lumumba
Chokwe Antar Lumumba is the 53rd mayor of the City of Jackson, Mississippi. Sworn in at 34 years old, he is the youngest mayor in Jackson’s history. He is an attorney, a husband, a father, and the son of two life-long community activists—the late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and Nubia Lumumba.
Under Mayor Lumumba’s leadership, the City of Jackson has bolstered community oversight of the police including establishing Mississippi’s first policy on releasing the names of officers involved in shootings; won a nearly $90 million settlement in a lawsuit against Siemens, recouping losses to the City related to water infrastructure, billing, and metering issues; and embarked upon the largest infrastructure improvement initiative in the City’s recent history.
Mayor Lumumba is the recipient of several awards including the National Black Caucus of State Legislators 2017 Nation Builder Award and more recently, the Frederick Douglass 200 Award in the area of politics. He has also been recognized as one of Mississippi’s Top 50 Most Influential Leaders. He earned his juris doctorate from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas in 2008 and is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association and the Magnolia Bar Association. In 2019, he completed the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. Mayor Lumumba has appeared as a repeated contributor on CNN, MSNBC, and ABC. He is the recipient of the 2022 John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award.
In 2022, Mayor Lumumba, with the support of his Congressional delegation and local leaders was able to secure nearly 800 million dollars in federal grants and direct appropriations. Those funds will be used to improve the City of Jackson’s water infrastructure and increase the overall quality of life for Jackson residents. This historic funding means Jacksonians will have access to clean, reliable drinking water.
Mayor Lumumba is married to Ebony Lumumba and the couple has two daughters, Alake’ Maryama and Nubia Ngozi.