JAMEL CAMPBELL-GOOCH
Former Candidate for Nashville City Council
Service: Community Organizer
Jamel Campbell-Gooch began working in the social justice sector of the non-profit industry and working closely with the community. During the day, he worked at Pearl-Cohn High School. Campbell-Gooch held peace circles with students who experienced the highest suspension rates as a form of violence prevention and restorative justice. After school, he worked with elementary & middle schoolers at Easley Community Center. The teenagers at Pearl-Cohn and the students at Easley Community Center dealt with poverty and targeted policing, which produced a destructive environment. Campbell-Gooch's work with Black young people in neighborhoods targeted by police and underinvested in led him to conclude that community organizing is the best solution to change the conditions. From there, Campbell-Gooch dedicated his time to community organizing around violence interruption and investment in public goods while reallocating public funds cops, courts, and cages.
Jamel Campbell-Gooch unapologetically believes in a future with
participatory governance, restorative forms of accountability, and a
future where Nashville passes a city budget that invests significantly
in housing, health, and fully funded education. He organizes for
transformative political power with the Black Nashville Assembly and
Southern Movement Committee. Campbell-Gooch is fighting for dignified housing, education, jobs, community-led public safety, and Guaranteed Basic Income via the city budget with organizers in
Nashville. Campbell-Gooch works alongside many brilliant and compassionate organizers, community leaders, and students. Jamel Campbell-Gooch's organizing power is a testament to the collaboration and trust others have in him.