Kenidra Woods, 18 and a leader in the national March For Our Lives movement, cast the first ballot of her life at Moline Acres Elementary School on Tuesday, November 6 around 10 a.m.
“I felt so empowered,” said Woods, a high school student. “This is the time when I officially get to use my voice. It’s good to be an activist and doing all this stuff, but to be able to have an opinion and vote on somebody – that feels so good, and it’s so empowering.”
Her high school friends who are also active in the movement studied together for the election, she said. Woods is also the founder of the Hope for Humanity Project that addresses gun violence.
“It’s so exciting to see my friends in action and voting,” Woods said.
She is particularly watching the ballot issues to legalize and regulate medical marijuana. One of her aunts has cancer and sometimes smokes marijuana to help her eat.
“It can really help people,” she said. “That is one of the issues that I really stand strong with.”
She also was excited to vote for Wesley Bell (D-Ferguson) for St. Louis County prosecuting attorney – running unopposed, he will become the first African American to hold the position – and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) for U.S. Senate. However, like most progressives, she said she doesn’t agree with everything McCaskill does.
Woods left school early to go to the polls with her mother and sister so they could all ride to the polls together. But it also fell in line with the National Walkout to Vote action at 10 a.m. supported by the March For Our Lives movement.
“There were mostly black people at the polls,” Woods said. “I was like, ‘Whoop, whoop!’ I’ve seen all the numbers that not that many black people vote, so to see majority black people at the polls, it was empowering.”
