Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new initiative today, unveiling an Opportunity Agenda specifically aimed at addressing the economic and social challenges faced by Black men in the United States. According to the press release, issued by Harris for President, the agenda focuses on providing Black men with resources to achieve financial stability, lower living costs, and safeguard their rights. The plan is positioned as part of a broader effort to create pathways for Black men to advance economically and thrive within their communities.
The Opportunity Agenda is informed by Harris’ experiences throughout her career and insights gathered during her Economic Opportunity Tour as Vice President and seeks to address longstanding barriers to economic equity while offering solutions intended to foster financial growth and community leadership among Black men.
Below are the points from the opportunity agenda quoted directly from the press release that was issued by Harris for President.
- Providing 1 million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs and others to start a business. Building on her plans to help more small businesses start, innovate, and expand by increasing the tax deduction for small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000, supporting innovation hubs and business incubators, and cutting unnecessary red tape, Vice President Harris today is announcing plans to provide 1 million loans that are fully forgivable of up to $20,000 to Black entrepreneurs and others 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 locating small businesses in underserved communities. These loans will be provided through a new partnership between the Small Business Administration and trusted partners on the ground like mission-driven lenders and banks with a proven commitment to their communities.
- 2 Championing education, training, and mentorship programs that help Black men get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries and lead their communities, including pathways to become teachers. In partnership with trusted community organizations, HBCUs, and federal agencies, Vice President Harris’ agenda is focused on creating and investing in programs that help expand pathways for Black men to get good- paying jobs, whether or not they have a college degree. This includes:
- Investing in more Black male teachers. Black student retention rates and overall success is increased when they have at least one black male teacher during their elementary school years, yet only 1% of public school teachers are Black men. With that in mind, Vice President Harris will invest in programs under the Department of Education, which Trump wants to eliminate, to collaborate with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) that will empower Black men and others to enter and succeed in the teaching profession.
- Promoting registered apprenticeships and credentialing opportunities in Black communities. She will bring together high schools, trusted community organizations like the National Urban League, state and local governments, and the private sector to ensure that Black men are able to get the training and technical credentials they need to succeed in registered apprenticeship opportunities and access jobs in highly paid, sought-after professions.
- Strengthening the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. She will support and strengthen the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program—which Trump tried to eliminate as President—to recruit and retain Black male teachers.
- Investing in Leadership Training and Mentorship Programs. She will support programs like My Brother’s Keeper and increase investments in leadership training and mentorship programs within public schools as well as HBCUs and MSIs to provide more opportunities for young Black men to develop leadership skills early and throughout their development.
- Supporting a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected. Vice President Harris knows that more than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned cryptocurrency assets, which is why her plans will make sure owners of and investors in digital assets benefit from a regulatory framework so that Black men and others who participate in this market are protected.
- Launching a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black Men that addresses sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately impact them. Black men face elevated risk of health conditions like diabetes, sickle cell disease, prostate cancer, and more. That’s why Vice President Harris will cap insulin costs at $35 a month and out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs at $2,000 for all Americans, bringing down costs for Black Americans—who are two-thirds more likely to have diabetes and are more likely to report rationing their drugs because of cost concerns. She will expand preventative screening programs, including prostate and colon cancer screenings, where the risk factors for Black men are especially high. And, she will expand the budget of the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, fully fund the Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, and build a sickle cell database to improve prevention and treatment. And, she will work with states to relieve medical debt impacting 1 in 4 Black households—significantly higher than the rate of medical debt for all households.
- Legalizing recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry. Vice President Harris will break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back by legalizing marijuana nationally, working with Congress to ensure that the safe cultivation, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana is the law of the land. She will also fight to ensure that as the national cannabis industry takes shape, Black men—who have, for years, been over policed for marijuana use—are able to access wealth and jobs in this new market. It’s a stark contrast with Donald Trump, whose Department of Justice threatened federal prosecutions for marijuana in states where marijuana use is legal, threatening the unjust and disproportionate use of marijuana possession laws to put Black Americans behind bars.