We are proud to share that Zakiya Sankara-Jabar was nominated by Montgomery County Executive, Marc Elrich to the newly created Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund Commission. Zakiya’s role is in the position of “Resident” representative. This appointment was approved and confirmed by the Montgomery County Council on March 11, 2025.
Racial Justice NOW’s team worked collaboratively with the Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle based in Baltimore and the ACLU of Maryland to ensure racial equity was at the forefront of any cannabis legalization ideas for Maryland. The legislation that called for the creation of this commission was originated in the Maryland Senate in 2022 with SB 692 – the Cannabis Legalization and Reparations for the War on Drugs Act.
Racial Justice NOW led the efforts to actually create the commission locally for Montgomery County. It was Zakiya who directly contacted the councilperson for District 5, Kristin Mink to begin the process of implementation of this state law requirement in 2023. Montgomery County Council approved bill 4-24 creating the Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund back in July 2024.
Our entire team worked hard to ensure that the local commission adhered strictly with the spirit and purposes of the state bill so that resources are allocated to the communities we all know were most impacted by the so called “war on drugs.” We worked hard to make “community control” over resources is a thing in Montgomery County.
Congratulations to our fierce leader Zakiya Sankara-Jabar on this historic appointment. It is a “first” for her personally and professionally for our organization. We can trust that Zakiya will hold true and steadfast to our values, mission, and vision. Zakiya will never act in any way that would further perpetuate harm against our already maligned and marginalized community as people of African descent in Maryland and beyond.
If you have specific questions regarding this appointment please reach out directly to Zakiya at zsj@racialjusticenow.org
Zakiya Appointed to New Repair Commission from Maryland’s Complicity in the “War on Drugs”
