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Icewear Vezzo had an important question for Vice President Kamala Harris while she was in his hometown of Detroit.
The Iced Up Records founder got to speak with the Democratic nominee for president during her Audio Town Hall with Charlamagne Tha God on Tuesday, October 15. During the rare conversation, Vezzo asked VP Harris about her new proposal to ensure 1 million Black men receive up to $20,000 in forgivable loans. He also asked her to address chatter from critics who think her latest campaign promise fuels the theory that politicians, specifically Democrats, only try to appeal to Black men during election cycles.
"I've been in this race about 70 days," Harris began. "You can look at all my work before those 70 days to know that what I'm talking about right now isn't new and is not for the sake of winning this election. This is about a long-standing commitment including the work that I've done as Vice President and before when I was Senator and before that."
Harris revealed part of her economic agenda via her website on Monday morning. She plans to team up with the Small Business Administration and other partners to secure loans for people who have “a good idea but don’t have the resources, connections, or access to capital to get their business off the ground, as well as entrepreneurs locat[ed] in underserved communities.” Her plan also calls for expanding access to lending and bank accounts as well as access to cryptocurrency.
"I have been aware for years Black entrepreneurs only get one percent of venture capital funding," Harris explained. "Of all the venture capital funding, only one percent goes to Black entrepreneurs. We don't have the same rates of access to capital through family or connections, which iswhy I'vee done the work of putting billions more dollars and working to put billions more dollars into community banks which go directly into the community. My work around the $20,000 is building on that."
Vezzo has done his due diligence by meeting with both sides ahead of the 2024 elections. Earlier this year, he and fellow Detroit native Peezy received backlash for meeting with former President Donald Trump during a campaign event. He posted a photo with Trump and maintained that he only met with the Republican candidate to help make a difference.
"Everyone not gonna agree with this picture but we don’t all have to agree on everything," he said at the time. "I just know not many of us will ever have the chance to really speak up for us and address how we may really feel so I stepped out on faith I didn’t meet him as a rapper I met him as a man and a father who understands the only way to attempt change things is to address things."
If you missed it, you watch Charlamagne Tha God's entire conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris below. Don't forget to vote on November 5!