United States Vice President Kamala Harris returned to Atlanta for the second time this month when she took the stage inside the Carter Center alongside rapper Quavo for a conversation on gun awareness, prevention and safety on Tuesday, June 18. The discussion took place as part of the first annual Rocket Foundation summit and on the birthday of former Migos rapper Takeoff, who was shot and killed in Houston on November 1, 2022.
Harris recalled the first time she met with Quavo, his mother and Takeoff’s mother in her office at the White House and how they decided to start talking about how gun violence prevention has affected his family following the death of his nephew.
“Any life lost by gun violence is one life too many,” Harris said.
Harris said she is in favor of the Second Amendment but also in favor of red flag laws, universal background checks and a ban on the sale of assault weapons.
“You just might want to know who is allowed to buy guns,” Harris said sarcastically. “There are solutions and that’s what I am trying to do through the White House Office on Gun Violence Prevention.”
On the loss of his nephew, Quavo said he is a victim of gun violence too and that his work through the Rocket Foundation is to uplift the memory of Takeoff. “That’s why we are here,” Quavo said. “It didn’t hit hard until it hit home for me. Me being on this stage is very tough for me. It’s been a year of me missing my nephew.”
Harris also spoke of mental health care and having “culturally competent health care providers” available in communities.
“We need more people doing this stuff, and the one thing I find with young people is that they are more willing to talk about this stuff,” Harris said. “I find that as an opportunity.”
The Biden-Harris administration has not hidden the fact that securing as many votes in Georgia is crucial to it being successful in a consecutive election. Georgia, and Atlanta and Fulton County more specifically, remain crucial battleground voter blocks 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.
Last year in September Harris met with Quavo for the first of their discussions about gun violence. Georgia remains among the top 10 states at most risk of a firearms accident, according to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Hours before Harris took the stage inside the Cecil B. Day Chapel, dozens of young people and mentors involved in local and national gun violence prevention programs, such as Credible Messenger, took their seats. Greg Jackson, the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention got the summit started by introducing a number of panelists for the days program.
“We gather not merely to discuss, but to act,” Jackson, who revealed that he too was a victim of gun violence, said. “The work that we’re doing is real, the commitment is real.”
There was also a roundtable discussion with family members and friends of gun violence victims. Parents, grandmothers, sisters and brothers of victims were allowed to tell their stories of loss.
One of those people experiencing loss and doing something about it is Aaliyah Strong, the founder of Tyme to Thrive Beyond Grief, an Atlanta-based nonprofit focused on healing after gun violence.
“For a lot of us in this room these stories are very personal,” said Strong, who lost a loved one to gun violence in Atlanta and was moderating a group discussion. Tyme to Thrive Beyond Grief was one of a number of organizations that were awarded a SPARK grant during the event.
Some of the organizations that were represented during the day of gun violence prevention discussion were Cities United, Community Justice Action Fund, and Live Free USA Network, Black and Brown Peace Consortium, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Hope Hustlers, Hopeful Change, Life Anew Restorative Justice, and Mothers Against Gang Violence, Tyme to Thrive Beyond Grief, and the Offender Alumni Association.
Later during the afternoon Harris hosted a Juneteenth block party in downtown Atlanta.