Dar'shun Nicole Kendrick (born August 28, 1982 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

) is an American attorney and a member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. ...

, representing the 95th district; she previously represented the 94th and 93rd districts. She is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Personal life and education

Kendrick was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to lifelong

DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur. DeKalb County is inc ...

residents, Daisy and Ricky Kendrick. She graduated from

Towers High School Towers High School (THS) is a high school in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the DeKalb County School System. It is physically within the Belvedere Park census-designated place, but has a Decatur postal addre ...

Decatur, Georgia Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes ...

in 2000, and graduated ''cum laude'' from

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia. History Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mi ...

in 2004. She double-majored in political science and communications, and served as student body president her senior year. In 2007, Kendrick graduated from the

University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law sc ...

. Kendrick earned an MBA from

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was fo ...

in 2011. Kendrick interned for Congresswomen

Cynthia McKinney Cynthia Ann McKinney (born March 17, 1955) is an American politician, academic, and conspiracy theorist. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first African American ...

and

Denise Majette Denise Lorraine Majette (born May 18, 1955) is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, she represented Georgia's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2003 to 2005. Biography Born i ...

, as well as State Representative George Maddox. She is a member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen st ...

sorority.

Career

Kendrick is a member of the Interstate Cooperation, Judiciary Non-Civil, Juvenile Justice, and Small Business Development committees. Kendrick also runs Kendrick Law Practice in

Lithonia, Georgia Lithonia (, ; AAVE: ) is a city in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The city's population was 2,662 at the 2020 census. Lithonia is in the Atlanta metropolitan area. "Lithonia" means "city/town of stone". Lithonia is in the hea ...

and has a non-profit, Minority Access to Capital, Inc. In 2017, she started Kendrick Advisory and Advocacy Group, LLC, dedicated to advisory and advocacy services in the area of economic justice.

Controversy

In February 2015, Kendrick posted a Facebook message stating "...I'm going to slap

Stacey Dash Stacey Lauretta Dash (born January 20, 1967) is an American actress. Dash played Dionne Marie Davenport in the 1995 feature film '' Clueless'' and its television series of the same name. She has also appeared in the films '' Moving'', ''Mo' Mon ...

if I see her...that wasn't nice. Forgive me God. I'm going to pray she stops talking..ok. that's better." After Dash replied to Kendrick, telling her she was "Such a role model for young black women," there were allegations Kendrick deleted the message which turned out to be false. In March 2019, Kendrick introduced a bill that would, among other things, require Georgia men who wanted to obtain a prescription for

Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra, among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is unclear if it is effective for treating sexual dysfunction in women. It is taken by m ...

to first obtain permission from their

significant other The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and in colloquial language. Colloquially, "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming ...

, ban

vasectomies Vasectomy, or vasoligation, is an elective surgical procedure for male sterilization or permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into the urethra and ...

in Georgia, and classify

unprotected sex Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contraceptive devices (such as condoms) to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer se ...

aggravated assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...

. Kendrick acknowledged the bill has little chance of passing the Georgia House of Representatives, but stated that she introduced it to highlight what she considers the absurdity of HB 481, a bill passed by the Georgia State legislature in 2019 that, among other things, significantly limited the time frame and circumstances under which a woman could legally obtain an abortion in the state. Kendrick stated that she introduced her bill to "bring awareness to the fact that if you’re going to legislate our bodies, then we have every right to propose legislation to regulate yours.” In July 2020, before any part of the bill came into effect, a federal court struck down HB 481 as unconstitutional. In October 2020, Kendrick faced ridicule after she appeared to confuse a remark made by President Trump during a presidential debate regarding “coyotes”. While the president was referring to the colloquial term for human traffickers, Kendrick seemingly confused the term with the animal, stating on Twitter, "How the hell does a coyote bring a whole human across the border?".

References

External links

Official page
at the

Campaign website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kendrick, Darshun 1982 births Living people African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) African-American women in politics Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Kennesaw State University alumni Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Oglethorpe University alumni Politicians from Atlanta University of Georgia School of Law alumni Women state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century Georgia (U.S. state) politicians