Harlem, N.Y., and Chattanooga are very different cities thousands of miles apart, but community members learned on Saturday there are striking similarities.

The Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s University Center held a public policy forum regarding children’s education in Hamilton County. The event’s featured guest speaker was journalist Paul Tough, author of “Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America.”