Parker Short

Samuel Parker Short was born in 2001 or 2002{{Cite news |last=Lyden |first=Meleah |date=August 1, 2024 |title=Georgia Young Democrats president seen singing, dancing to 'Not Like Us' at VP Harris campaign rally |url=https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/georgia-young-democrats-president-not-like-us-dancing-kamala-harris-campaign-rally/85-0c8e45d7-d48f-46ac-9793-d4339cfbefd4 |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=11 Alive |location=Atlanta, Georgia}} in Dunwoody, Georgia, where he was raised.{{Cite web |last=Short |first=Parker |title=Parker S. |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/parker-s-short/ |access-date=August 5, 2024 |website=LinkedIn}} His father died when Short was young, leading to his family's receiving Survivor Social Security. Short's father's labor union helped protect his family from medical debt, which brought Short to advocate for Democratic politics.{{Cite news |last=Melber |first=Ari |author-link=Ari Melber |date=July 31, 2024 |title=Loser: Trump's waking nightmare deepens as Kamala wins 'the culture' |url=https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari/watch/loser-trump-s-waking-nightmare-deepens-as-kamala-wins-the-culture-216132165668 |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=The Beat with Ari Melber |publisher=MSNBC |at=4:00 |type=Television production}}

He attended Dunwoody High School, where he led a student walkout on March 14, 2018, advocating for gun control in response to the Parkland high school shooting.{{Cite news |last=Andrews |first=Evelyn |date=March 16–29, 2018 |title=Dunwoody High students join national gun protest |url=https://issuu.com/reporter_newspapers/docs/031618_dun_web |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=Dunwoody Reporter |page=30 |via=Issuu |volume=9 |issue=6}} Short also founded a Young Democrats Club at his school, which received guest speeches from political figures such as former Georgia governor Roy Barnes and former Georgia State Senator Jason Carter.{{Cite news |last=Andrews |first=Evelyn |date=April 15, 2018 |title=Student protest leaders took different paths into activism |url=https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2018/04/15/student-protest-leaders-took-different-paths-into-activism/ |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=Rough Draft Atlanta |publisher=Newspack}} He graduated from high school in 2020.

Short graduated from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan in May 2024. He is now a candidate for a Master of Public Policy degree from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

Short first worked as an intern for the first congressional campaign of Jon Ossoff from March 2017 to June 2017. From January 2018 to November 2018, he worked for the campaign of Mike Wilensky; during this time, he began coordinating groups of volunteers. In March 2019, he became the Georgia Chair of the High School Democrats of America for the next year. From June 2019 to November 2019, Short managed volunteers and outreach for Lynn Deutsch's campaign for Dunwoody mayor. Short also managed voter outreach for a campaign for Ted Terry from June 2020 to August 2020.

In August 2020, Short was a Democratic National Convention (DNC) delegate.{{Cite news |last=Rayam |first=Lisa |date=August 20, 2020 |title=A Georgia Teen Delegate At The DNC Talks About His Experience |url=https://www.wabe.org/samuel-parker-short-a-teen-delegate-at-the-democrat-national-convention/ |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=Wabe |publisher=PBS and NPR}} Short was a legislative aide for Georgia State Senate member Nikki Merritt from December 2020 to April 2021. Following that, he was an intern for the chief of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department from June 2021 to August 2021.{{Cite web |date=Summer 2021 |title=Say hello to Parker Short! |url=https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6829531585650417664/ |access-date=August 5, 2024 |website=Atlanta Fire Rescue Department |via=LinkedIn}}

Short again worked as an intern for Ossoff in his Judiciary Committee team from September 7, 2021, to December 17, 2021.{{Cite web |date=December 17, 2021 |title=Salary Data of Samuel Parker Short, Congressional Staffer |url=https://www.legistorm.com/person/Samuel_Parker_Short/425525.html |access-date=August 5, 2024 |website=LegiStorm}} He worked for the advocacy group Public Citizen from February 2022 to April 2022 and for the Michigan AFL-CIO from May 2022 to January 2023.

In 2023, Short became the president of the Young Democrats of Georgia (YDG), working alongside his vice president, Davante Jennings.{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=About YDG |url=https://www.youngdemsga.org/about |access-date=August 5, 2024 |website=Young Democrats of Georgia}} (Prior to his YDG presidency, Short was the Vice President of Programming from May 2021 to May 2022, and then the Executive Vice President.){{Cite news |date=December 9, 2022 |title=Fordies make their mark on the 2022 midterms |url=https://fordschool.umich.edu/news/2022/fordies-make-their-mark-2022-midterms |access-date=August 6, 2024 |work=Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy |publisher=University of Michigan}} His term has ended in September 2024 and replaced by his vice president, Davante Jennings. {{Cite web |last=Umontuen |first=Itoro N. |date=2024-09-23 |title=Davante Jennings takes over as president of Young Democrats of Georgia |url=https://theatlantavoice.com/davante-jennings-young-democrats/ |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=The Atlanta Voice |language=en-US}} He has since then served, as of October 2024, as its National Committee Representative.{{Cite web |title=About YDG |url=https://www.youngdemsga.org/about |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=Young Democrats Of G |language=en}}

Short worked as an aide to Atlanta city councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari starting in June 2023. In September 2023, he started as an office intern for the public defender of Washtenaw County, Michigan. He continued in this position until January 2024, and in February he became the deputy manager for Kimberly Thomas's successful campaign for the Michigan Supreme Court. Short was also a DNC delegate again in 2024.File:Kamala Harris and Parker Short.jpg in June 2024]]

In July 2024, Short endorsed the Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign.{{Cite web |last=Aragon |first=Rachel |date=July 25, 2024 |title=Georgia's young voters could make a big difference in election |url=https://www.wrdw.com/2024/07/25/georgias-young-voters-could-make-big-difference-election/ |access-date=August 19, 2024 |website=WRDW |publication-place=Atlanta, Georgia |agency=Atlanta News First}} On July 30, 2024, Short gained popularity on social media after singing and dancing to the Kendrick Lamar single "Not Like Us" at a rally for the campaign at the Georgia State Convocation Center in Atlanta.{{Cite news |last=Sumlin |first=Hayden |date=August 5, 2024 |title=Dunwoody native goes viral at VP Harris rally |url=https://www.appenmedia.com/dunwoody/dunwoody-native-goes-viral-at-vp-harris-rally/article_fcab8004-5343-11ef-acb8-8b73d95c4e8e.html |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=Dunwoody Crier |publisher=Appen Media Group |publication-place=Atlanta, Georgia}}{{Cite news |last=Cohen |first=Danielle |date=July 31, 2024 |title=This Guy Had the Time of His Life at the Kamala Rally |url=https://www.thecut.com/article/who-was-the-viral-guy-dancing-at-the-kamala-harris-rally.html |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=The Cut}} Videos of him from this event received millions of views, with one being shared by Kamala HQ, an official social media presence of the Harris campaign.{{Cite news |last=Disbrow |first=Eliza |date=August 1, 2024 |title=That Viral Dancing Guy From The Kamala Rally Is Actually A Rising Star In Politics |url=https://www.hercampus.com/culture/who-is-kamala-harris-rally-dancing-guy-parker-short-young-democrats-leader/ |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=Her Campus}} One article called him "the Kendrick Lamar-spitting white boy blowing up TikTok."{{Cite news |last=Huggins |first=Katherine |date=July 31, 2024 |title=Who is the Kendrick Lamar-spitting white boy blowing up TikTok for his Kamala Harris rally bars? |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/kamala-harris-kendrick-lamar-tiktok/ |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=The Daily Dot}} He said he aimed to direct this attention to the YDG and advocate for more involvement of young people in politics.{{Cite news |last=Kallis |first=Sarah |date=August 2, 2024 |title=Georgia Young Democrats president says his viral dancing moment is bringing attention to activism |url=https://www.gpb.org/news/2024/08/02/georgia-young-democrats-president-says-his-viral-dancing-moment-bringing-attention |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=Georgia Public Broadcasting |publisher=PBS and NPR}}{{Cite news |last=Alston |first=Christopher |date=July 30, 2024 |title=Young political leaders in Georgia discuss how a new Democratic candidate affects organizing |url=https://www.wabe.org/young-political-organizers-in-georgia-respond-to-president-bidens-decision-to-withdraw/ |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=Wabe |publisher=PBS and NPR}}

Short worked as a policy analyst for DeKalb County, Georgia, from May 2024 until he started his program at Duke. On July 24, 2024, he was a guest speaker in a press conference advocating for teaching AP African American Studies in Georgia schools.{{Cite news |date=July 23, 2024 |title=Sen. Nikki Merritt to Hold Press Conference on Teaching AP African Studies Courses in Georgia Schools |url=https://senatepress.net/sen-nikki-merritt-to-hold-press-conference-on-teaching-ap-african-studies-courses-in-georgia-schools.html |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=Georgia State Senate Press Office |location=Atlanta, Georgia}} Short went viral again in August 2024 for a confrontation with Charlie Kirk at the Democratic National Convention.{{Cite web |date=August 19, 2024 |title=Republican activist Charlie Kirk clashes with Democrat in video from inside DNC |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2024-democratic-national-convention/2024/08/19/republican-influencers-dnc-charlie-kirk-jack-posobiec-turning-point-usa-united-center-abortion-weird |access-date=August 19, 2024 |website=Chicago Sun-Times}}{{Cite web |last=Badash |first=David |date=August 19, 2024 |title='Owned the Minute He Enters': Christian Nationalist Charlie Kirk Is at the DNC |url=https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2024/08/owned-the-minute-he-enters-christian-nationalist-charlie-kirk-is-at-the-dnc/ |access-date=August 20, 2024 |website=New Civil Rights Movement}} He has had opinion pieces published in support of citizen-initiated ballot initiatives and his opposition to Stone Mountain.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ajc.com/opinion/opinion-georgians-deserve-a-choice/SNGRHAEKOJGQFPFYCHQPCIWEGM/ |title=Opinion Georgians deserve a choice |website=ajc.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ajc.com/opinion/opinion-its-time-we-reconsider-stone-mountain/UG352TAQUZHV7DW4JU4HKP7IAM/|title=It's time we reconsider Stone Mountain|website=ajc.com}} Short serves as a member of the DeKalb County Community Council, and has published an additional op-ed advocating for water and sewer infrastructure investments in DeKalb. https://www.ajc.com/opinion/parker-short-lets-bite-the-bullet-now-instead-of-drinking-dirty-water-later/VXXY443E5RE7BJZ5MMIVLOOO64/ Short held a townhall with his Congressman Hank Johnson in February of 2025 to discuss the impact of the first 30 days of the Trump administration. https://ocgnews.com/congressman-hank-johnson-to-host-social-media-influencer-parker-short-to-discuss-trump-musk-first-30-days-of-reign-of-terror/ As a contributor to the Atlanta Journal Constitution Short has written several opinion editorials about Georgia policy and politics, including advocacating to raise the minium wage and legalize marijuana.

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• {{Instagram|parker.short|Parker Short}}
• [https://www.youngdemsga.org/ Young Democrats of Georgia]

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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:People from Dunwoody, Georgia

Category:Dunwoody High School alumni

Category:Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy alumni

Category:21st-century Georgia (U.S. state) politicians

Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats

Category:2000s births