‘Second line to the polls’: Meagan Good joins Southern University students in push to get young people to vote
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - More than 100 Southern University students took to the streets of downtown Baton Rouge for a second line with a purpose: encouraging young people to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
The march, led by Southern’s Human Jukebox, made its way to City Hall on the final day of early voting. The initiative was organized by Southern senior Jaden York, who wanted to find a creative way to get students and the community involved in the voting process.
“I was able to just think about, ‘what’s the most impactful way to get our students and community involved to be able to come and vote?’” York said.
His answer was a second line.
“When I thought of that, I thought doing a second line would be a perfect opportunity,” York said.
The event brought together students, student organizations and local elected officials, along with political commentator Roland Martin and actress Meagan Good.
Good said she came to Baton Rouge to encourage young people to recognize the importance of participating in elections.
“I wanted to come out and encourage the young folks and remind them that what they do, it does matter,” Good said.
The visit also carried personal significance for Good, whose stepfather is from Baton Rouge. She said she spent time in the city as a child and later returned to Louisiana to film the movie “Eve’s Bayou,” which was shot in Baton Rouge, Port Allen, Mandeville and Covington.
“Coming here when I was 11 was my first experience in Louisiana. Then I came back and shot Eve’s Bayou in Baton Rouge, Port Allen, Mandeville and Covington. So, any time it’s like coming home in a way,” Good said.
Good hopes her appearance will help inspire young people to remain involved in the political process beyond a single election.
“Not just now, but every single vote that comes up, every single thing, for every single city, every single state, that’s how active we have to be,” she said.
Early voting has ended, but voters will have another opportunity to cast their ballots on Election Day, Nov. 3.
Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline.
Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Watch the latest WAFB news and weather now.
