Voters of NC – Peondora

Peondora Harrington, 28

Organizer and Activist

Fayetteville, NC

It first started with the protest that we did after George Floyd died. Most people would go to a protest and then go home. I started researching things. Every problem we have, there’s a root of that problem. When I did that research it got me to understand, the racism, it’s always been here. I wanted to try to figure out what was the problem. I realized a lot of officials, they don’t even know how to begin the conversation. But I feel like that’s where we’re going to have to start – by talking to one another. Just understanding that systematic racism is a thing, that there’s a problem, that’s first. Then we can figure out the next step as we go along. 

I became an activist and started having conversations with a lot of people, elected officials, and I realized a lot of things could have been changed had we been more active and had different people in these positions. I never pressured myself to get out and vote before, but now I was complaining about the way things were. I realized that I was complaining about the people who were in office, but I didn’t do anything to put them there or not put them there. 

Our vote is our voice. Our ancestors sacrificed for us to have that right. I think that’s why voting with my mom made it so much more intense and heartwarming to me. To be able to stand next to my mom and be able to place my vote, and for her to place her vote. It was letting our voice be heard.

Photo by Briana Brough