Annie Wu Henry really cares. It’s clear that she cared enough to make time for two chats between her packed political schedule that shuttles her between Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C. for work. It’s also clear from the way she dresses for our Zoom chat: a shirt that reads “Local Progress.” It’s also clear from the way she carefully considers questions and answers them thoroughly. Of course she cares, because there’s a lot at stake in this election.
But there can be no progress without action, and Henry will be the first to remind us of that. The 28-year-old, who was nicknamed a “political kid” since elementary school, has dedicated her career to making progressive change through digital strategies. She was the genius behind Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman’s social media pages during his 2022 election campaign. Her viral posts, which were linked to internet trends and popular sounds, have been viewed millions of times, and she wrote an article in the New York Times titled Fetterman’s “TikTok whisperer.”
Since then, the media guru has worked with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Philadelphia mayoral candidate Helen Gym, and the Working Families Party while also serving as creative director for the AAPI Victory Fund. She’s currently working in the digital and creative sectors leading up to the 2024 election cycle. Part of her mission is to motivate young voters to not only join the political conversation, but to take action.
Over the past few years, Henry (who sits on the border between Gen Z and millennials) has operated out of fear and adopted a “we have to fight” mentality in her approach to mobilizing voters. “Younger voters have good reason to be angry, frustrated, and like, ‘I don’t care,'” she says. Like many young people, she’s outraged by a host of social and political issues at stake in this election, including the existential threat of climate change, the rising cost of living, student loan defaults, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the never-ending attacks on LGBTQ+ rights.
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Henry said that while some people are interested in politics, fear and disapproval of political leaders keeps Gen Zers from speaking up, debating and voting. But for Henry, it lights a fire. [fight] Otherwise, we will fall into the trap of fascism… I would have been stuck in a vicious circle if I hadn’t at least tried to do what I could to bring about change,” she told me in early July, acknowledging that she was a “pessimistic person” when it came to the political situation at the time.
The presidential candidates at the time were Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but Henry said these two candidates were unfamiliar to young people. “That doesn’t mean young people won’t vote, but they might not be as excited,” she said. “We need to do a lot of work to engage and energize young people in the time that’s left.”
But two weeks after our initial conversation, President Biden withdrew from his reelection campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in 2024. “The whole atmosphere has changed, and I think everyone has noticed that. It’s changed for the better… People are now more vocal about politics and about voting,” she said, noting that a viral meme from the Harris campaign (“Kamala is a brat”) has widely resonated with Gen Z.
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Reflecting on her pessimistic views, Henry says young people should complain, they should get angry, and they shouldn’t be optimistic until the election results are out. Yes, things are bad and could get worse, but we should remember that a lot of good work has been done and there were good people behind it, Henry says. So instead of just complaining, young people should put their money where their mouths are and take action.
While politics has not historically been a “fun” topic of conversation, Henry argues that young people are excited about politics and eager to get involved. She emphasizes that for people to participate in political conversations, they must have the intention of understanding opposing viewpoints, rather than simply having the goal of “winning.”
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Henry says Gen Z is tired of being sold and spoken to as if each party is trying to buy their vote. The way to bring young people on board isn’t to shame them or yell at them to take action, she says. It starts with giving them resources, access and support. Henry is leading by example, having started the A.W. Henry Democracy, Journalism + Public Service Scholarship Program at her high school.
She has long known that the way to reach young people is through the internet, and she argues that effective messaging is authentic and natural – two pillars that define her digital strategy.
The Charli XCX “Brat” banners, the montage of songs set to Chapel Lawn and the relentless quoting of Harris’ quirky lines (“You think I fell out of a coconut tree?”) may seem like mere internet memes, but on a larger scale they show just how enthralling young people can be.
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According to Politico, within two days of Biden dropping out of the race, Vote.org saw 38,500 new voter registrations (a 700% increase), the highest number of any voter registered in the entire election cycle, most of whom were under the age of 34. Needless to say, youth turnout has been steadily increasing since 2016, with 18-29 year-olds turning out to vote in record numbers in the 2022 midterm elections.
According to the Associated Press, Harris raised $81 million in the first 24 hours of entering the race. Her @KamalaHQ account has 1.5 million followers on TikTok, 1.1 million on X (formerly Twitter) and 272,000 on Instagram.
Despite this momentum, Henry warns that social media is rife with misinformation, and while young people may be “digital natives” who got their hands on an iPad as toddlers, that doesn’t mean they fully understand how media influences politics, he says.
In Henry’s ideal world, social media companies would do a better job of screening posts for ethically incorrect or misleading content, media literacy classes (and broader civics courses) would be taught in every school, creators would have a duty to disseminate honest information, and consumers would be more thoughtful about where and where they get information.
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“It’s the same as journalism,” Henry says. “Journalists have to exercise journalistic integrity in finding sources and do due diligence to do ethical journalism. Now we have content creators, influencers, activists and people with online platforms, and they have a lot of power but also a lot of responsibility.”
Henry is careful about using the word hope, lest she overlook all the work that still needs to be done: “This is a very serious race,” she said, clarifying that she is “cautiously hopeful” and “cautiously optimistic.”
“We need candidates to prove it by tackling and championing the issues that matter most to them and where policy change and action can dramatically improve their lives,” Henry says. “Young people are very disillusioned with the system in general, the political system, and government. This isn’t a party issue, it’s a systemic issue. That’s why young people are less likely to align with Democrats or Republicans… People are more passionate about issues than they are about people and systems.”
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Henry believes that if young people feel included in the political debate, it will restore faith in democracy. [vote] “Because it’s their future. That’s a really simplistic and disrespectful way of looking at young people, because Gen Z and millennials combined are the largest voting demographic,” she says. “Their vote needs to be earned, just like any other voting demographic. We shouldn’t take them for granted.”
