Vice President Kamala Harris discusses gun violence prevention and engaging young voters during repeated trips to Atlanta – WABE

Before taking questions at a recent summit on gun violence prevention in Atlanta, Vice President Kamala Harris thanked her host, Quavious Keyate Marshall, or “Quavo.”

Marshall is one-third of the GRAMMY-winning trap trio Migos.

In 2022, one of the group’s members and Quavo’s nephew, Kirsnick Khari Ball, or “Takeoff”, was shot and killed.

Quavo said that experience inspired him to create the Rocket Foundation, a nonprofit that supports community response to gun violence.

“When I saw him lying there, I feel like he saw me lying there,” Quavo mused. “So I feel like I want to elevate his legacy and keep his name alive.”

Harris joined the summit on what would have been Takeoff’s 30th anniversary.

She used the platform to explain how her administration has worked to prevent gun violence, such as making gun trafficking a federal crime, investing in youth mental health and expanding background check requirements.

“Before someone can purchase a deadly weapon, you may want to know if they have been proven to be a danger to themselves or others,” she said. “You might just want to know.”

This was Harris’ second trip to Atlanta in five days.

Last week, she attended the 100 Black Men of America annual conference as part of a national economic opportunity tour.

She joined Steve Harvey for a chat.

“It’s an alley-oop for a dunk,” the comedian explained. “Because this administration needs to get the word out about what it’s actually doing and what it’s actually accomplishing.”

Harris has repeatedly expressed a similar sentiment.

“So I’ll start with student debt…anyone who has benefited from student debt forgiveness, please testify,” Harris laughed. “Everywhere!”

She then framed this sentiment as a two-part appeal. First, too few Americans understand the impact and scale of this aid. Second, few Americans of color understand how they could benefit from similar programs – especially black people.

The Biden-Harris administration has erased more than $170 billion in student debt.

Harris also used her platform to secure other victories, such as making medical debt no longer affect credit scores.

She also talked about a program to help first-time home buyers and efforts to make small business ownership, including those returning from incarceration, more accessible.

This touched Jabari Mackey, 19, who has two brothers in prison.

“The fact that incarcerated people can start a small business has brought me joy, because it’s like my brothers can make a difference too,” he said. “Even though they took this wrong path, now they can rebuild and get on the right path.” »

Mackey said it felt like Harris was speaking to him personally, which made him more excited about voting.

Harris encouraged young people at his two events in Atlanta to do just that.

The Rocket Foundation Summit took place the day before June 16.

“When I was in the United States Senate, I was proud to be one of the sponsors to make Juneteenth a federal holiday,” she said. “Among the many ways to celebrate Juneteenth, consider how you can simply ask your neighbor, or your cousin, or someone to make sure they are registered to vote.”