Twelve-year-old Madison Kimrey may not be old enough to vote, but she is determined that North Carolinians should be able to do so without any kind of suppression.
A participant in “Moral Monday” protests and writer of her own blog about politics, Madison has started a MoveOn petition to meet with Governor Pat McCrory, as she calls it, “citizen to Governor.” She has also started a youth organization, North Carolina Youth Rock, that is advocating for the reintroduction of a voter preregistration bill for 16- and 17-year-olds. I spoke with Madison this week about how she got involved in political activism and her demands for the accountability of politicians to the citizens who elect them.
What was your first encounter with any kind of activism?
My first encounter with activism was down in Jacksonville, Florida. We went down there–one of my best friends lives down there–we went down there to visit them, but there were also protests going on against a children’s museum. We went to protest them because they tried to discriminate against a same-sex couple, saying that they had to pay extra to get a family membership because they weren’t really a family.
So when I came back up to North Carolina, I started paying attention what was going on around North Carolina and where I live, and that’s when I heard about some of the things Pat McCrory was doing, and that’s when I started going to all the “Moral Monday” protests.
How did you start learning about what was going on in your own state?
Once I got back, there was a news story about what happened in Florida and my protesting by Zack Ford of ThinkProgress. Then I realized that a lot of people wanted to read what he wrote about it, and so I was like ‘What if I told my side–my part of the story –of what happened down there.’
That’s when I started my blog, and I started reading other people’s blogs. I really started paying more attention and learning more by reading other people’s blogs.
Tell me about getting involved with “Moral Mondays.”
Getting involved with Moral Mondays, it was…I heard about some of the topics they were protesting about…I think the first one I went to was for women’s rights. So we went to “Moral Mondays,” and it was really awesome. There were so many people that represented me and so many different issues I believe in.
What issues interest you the most?
Definitely voting rights. That’s my main issue. I care about everything, but that’s the issue I’m most passionate about. I feel like it affects me more than the other ones, considering it’s closest to me.
I’m very excited to participate in the voting process, and I am a little worried. That’s why I’ve done all of this petition stuff and I have my blog because I can’t vote; this is the only shot I’ve got at taking part in my state and in what’s going on. This is the way to get my voice heard.
Tell me about the day you went to the Governor’s mansion.
That day, my mom and I went to the Governor’s mansion in the morning. Planned Parenthood and a few other people were there. But we had to leave to get back to Burlington because I had a voice lesson in the afternoon. Right after my voice lesson was over I started scrolling through my Twitter and I saw what happened with Pat McCrory giving the Planned Parenthood people cookies. That was like, wow! It made no sense! Why did he give them cookies instead of going out there and talking to them to find out why they were out there and where they were coming from? I’m sure that would have made a big difference to them that he actually cared about the fact that they were out there instead of giving them cookies.
Later that night…I saw that there were still some people out there at the Governor’s Mansion, and I was like, “Mom! Mom! Can we please go back?”








