Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice
Last week, 13-year-old internet personality and Georgia native Knowa De Baraso visited The Atlanta Voice to discuss everything from his interests in politics and travel to his plans for the future.
De Baraso, best known for his presence on the most recent presidential campaign and support of Democratic candidates, spent much of 2024 traveling the country. During that time, he not only expanded his individual platform and made a name for himself in political conversations but also received death threats.
During his visit to the studio inside The Atlanta Voice building, De Baraso laughed, smiled, and shared stories. He was a kid.
In many ways, De Baraso represents a future generation of Georgia voters who will be more engaged in the process, people, and procedures than ever before. In other ways, he’s just a kid who enjoys the Waffle House and doesn’t like rap music.
You may think you know Knowa from his appearances on television shows, radio programs, and podcasts. And you’d probably be wrong. The young man, who was accompanied by a family member, wanted to reintroduce himself and chose the city’s Black-owned and operated newspaper to do so.
AV: Are there any personal political inspirations, people who inspired you to follow politics as much as you do at such a young age?
KDB: I’m going to surprise you, and I’m going to say no. I’m not really an activist. I don’t do it out of admiration for anyone. If anyone I’m going to say myself.
AV: So why are you so invested in and involved in national politics? For example, you reach over 95,000 followers on X with political posts.
KDB: I do it because it would be so selfish of me to hoard a platform and not share it with the oldest [political] party in the land and the only one with a real platform. That’s why I do it.
AV: Do you feel like campaigns, for example, reach out to you because of your popularity on social media (74K followers on TikTok and 30K followers on Instagram)?
KDB: Really, what campaigns do is they don’t so much see the person themselves. They see the following count. So they say, ‘I want some of that, and you endorse me.’ Whether they are a good candidate or not, whether they match my ideals or not, they are 100% in it for what they can get.
AV: How important is social media to you?
KBD: There’s no Knowa without social media. It’s an economy. It’s a whole creator economy. It’s so powerful.
AV: What do you want to be (professionally) when you grow up?
KDB: I want to be Knowa. I’m lucky.
AV: What’s your dream college? The place you’d most like to attend when that time comes.
KDB: I don’t have an answer for you on that yet, but when I do, you’ll be the first to know, I promise. When I do, I hope it won’t be because of any connections or a name. I would want to qualify and get in there.
AV: Is there a country or city in the United States you want to visit?
KBD: I intend to travel a lot more, which will be less worky and more fun. A little less vote for Joe Biden-ish, a little less vote for Kamala Harris-ish, and more Knowa will have more fun-ish. This is random, but I want to go to Houston. There are a lot of places I’ve been to that I’d like to visit again. International-wise, there are so many. I want to go back to Africa.
AV: So you’ve been to Africa. What country?
KBD: Ethiopia. There are a lot of great places.
AV: What do you think about The Atlanta Voice and the newspaper’s legacy? You might not know this, but this year is our 60th anniversary.
KBD: It’s so powerful. You have so many other newspapers, Atlanta this, Atlanta that, this is powerful. It’s the voice of the people, it’s the voice of the community, and it connects the people to power.
AV: Do you believe newspapers still have the ability to reach people of your generation? Do you believe it’s important to keep trying to reach younger readers?
KBD: I think it’s more important than ever. There’s a lot of social media out here, and The Atlanta Voice is doing a pretty good job.