Vice President Kamala Harris returns to Atlanta to speak about economic opportunity for all

Moderator Steve Harvey (left) and United States Vice President Kamala Harris on stage in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Friday, June 14, 2024. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice

United States Vice President Kamala Harris returned to metro Atlanta on the eve of Father’s Day weekend. She was in town Friday, June 14, to add her voice to a conversation about economic opportunity taking place at the 38th annual 100 Black Men of America conference. The Vice President immediately plans to return to Atlanta next week to discuss gun violence and gun control with former Migos rapper Quavo on Tuesday, June 18. Migos member Takeoff was shot and killed in Houston on November 1, 2022.

Georgia, and specifically Atlanta and Fulton County, remain crucial voting blocs for the Biden-Harris administration. Harris has made several appearances in metro Atlanta this year, including most recently in College Park in April to kick off the Biden-Harris administration’s Economic Opportunity Tour. The tour has since made stops in Detroit, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Harris was back on stage in Atlanta alongside popular comedian, author and television host Steve Harvey, the afternoon moderator, to talk about a number of topics, including the state’s promotion of community banks. Biden-Harris administration, student debt relief, the power of homeownership and the need for more homeownership by Black and Brown people, as well as debt relief medical debt.

“People need more than enough to get by, they want to get ahead,” Harris said. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice

“I’m in these streets,” Harris proclaimed after receiving a standing ovation as he took the stage and greeted Harvey. Harris said she wanted to be in Atlanta at the 100 Black Men of America conference because she wanted a huge platform on which to speak about access to capital for small businesses and homeownership .

“We want to get the message across. That’s why I’m doing this tour,” said Harris, the first black vice president of the United States.

Harvey acknowledged he was out of his comfort zone in interviewing the vice president about how she and President Joseph R. Biden planned to close the wealth gap in the United States. “I’m like Gayle King,” he joked.

“People need more than enough to get by, they want to get ahead,” Harris said while speaking in the main ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Peachtree Street. While Harris was on stage and immediately afterward, traffic on Peachtree Street was blocked around the Hyatt.

A packed house attended the Hyatt Regency Atlanta to hear Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris’ speech.
Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice

Harris made a point of discussing how little funding black-owned small businesses receive from venture capital funds. Less than 2% of venture capital investments go to small black businesses, according to data provided by crunchbase.com. This is a significant drop from the amount of money that was invested in Black-owned startups and small businesses immediately following the Black Lives Matters summers of 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Harvey went off-script for a while after Harris talked about the Biden-Harris administration’s changes to debt relief, for example. “I know I won’t come back next year. I appreciate you all having me,” Harvey joked after explaining that he didn’t want to hear people calling his nationally syndicated radio show Monday morning to explain why he hadn’t “posed difficult questions.

“That’s not what this is about. It’s an alley-oop for a dunk,” he said. “This administration needs to get the message out. »

Harris said the Biden-Harris administration is “addressing the realities of what’s holding people back.” She added that she understands that black people, for example, do not “lack hard work and good ideas,” but that the lack of financing and the lack of information on how to obtain loans or financing for small businesses can be a huge detriment.

When it comes to homeownership, Harris highlighted the $25,000 down payment credit and the $400 per month credit for first-time homeowners (described by Harris as “first generation”) that the Biden administration -Harris put forward and made available.

“These are some of the problems we are trying to solve. We need to give people the opportunity to compete,” Harris said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Harvey asked Harris what advice she would give to the young people in the room and Harris responded that she wanted them to know that when they are in the rooms where decisions are being made, they should know that the older generation is in the room with them.

“You have to dream with ambition. Don’t ever let anyone tell you not to have ambition,” she said. “I always say I don’t eat breakfast.”

The Rev. Timothy McDowell III (center) delivered the invocation before Harvey and Harris took the stage. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice

100 Black Men of America Vice President Michael Victorian was the event’s master of ceremonies and the Rev. Timothy McDowell III delivered the invocation, saying in part: “Bless our vice president with even more wisdom as she prepares to speak this afternoon.

Along with Harris and Harvey, there were a number of local and national celebrities in the crowd to see and hear Harris that afternoon, including the civil rights era icon, former mayor of Atlanta and Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young.

Civil rights era icon, former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador Andrew Young (center). Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice

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