21 Under 21 2018: Winter BreeAnne Wants Younger Generations to Embrace the Power of Voting

Winter BreeAnne is part of Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 class of 2018, which spotlights extraordinary young women, girls, and femmes making waves in their industries or passions of choice.

Winter BreeAnne is an unstoppable 17-year-old advocate who has started her own nonprofit, become a youth ambassador for TOMS, and even been named one of Riverside, California’s Most Remarkable Teens. Labeled a budding activist, Winter says she’s just doing her civic duty. She wants to make a difference in the world and is using her voice to do so.

“I never saw myself as an activist, I just saw myself as playing my part in shaping the world that I want to see for our future,” she tells Teen Vogue. “Young people should have a say in our future and to some that looks like activism. [Activism] is literally just voicing your opinions, or if you can’t voice your opinions, using whatever gifts and talents you have to add to society and add to the world.”

Winter began her advocacy at 15 with the launch of her organization Black Is Lit. What began as an Instagram page meant to fill a void in black representation on the platform quickly expanded into a passion project for the young activist. Soon she would use her platform to tour elementary schools across the country, promoting education around youth politics and the importance of voting.

Earlier this year, Winter spearheaded one of the largest student demonstrations in U.S. history. As a national student leader for the group Women’s March Youth Empower, Winter helped organize the #ENOUGH: National Student Walkout in March. The demonstration took place exactly one month after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and more than a million students in all 50 states participated.

In addition to the walkouts, Winter helped Women’s March Youth Empower launch the #PowerToThePolls campaign, which aims to mobilize, educate, and register voters across the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections. Winter herself is not old enough to vote, but she says finding a way for her voice to be heard is just as important as voting.

“Find a way to get involved in whatever capacity you can,” she says. “There [are] ways to do your part by just making sure your family is registered, talking to your friends about voting, and making sure that you can help those who can vote in any way you can so that they can vote.”

Winter graduated high school earlier this year and is taking a gap year before heading to Howard University. In the meantime, Winter is ramping up her political activism. The graduate just became the youngest contributor to Crooked Media, where she will focus on providing her generation with a voice in a political climate that ignores them. She will also launch her nonprofit Just Active early next year. And to prove that Winter is truly a superwoman, the teenager also released a campaign with Amplifier Art called “We the Future.” She helped create a detailed election plan for 20,000 schools to help foster the conversation about voting.

“It’s about investing in the future and investing in young children,” she explains of her election plan, emphasizing that allowing kids to find power in their voice can change the future. “Young people need to take the power back into their own hands because if we aren’t voting, there’s definitely a 55-year-old person who’s voting and making decisions on behalf of us.”

With a bright future ahead of her, Winter hopes to continue her activism, maintain her organizations’ impact, and mentor younger generations. As far as running for office, the young activist has this to say: “Never say never.”