This is gonna be super dope!
The Legendary Roots Crew just announced that their annual Roots Picnic will be hosted by our Forever First Lady, Michelle Obama.
The 13th annual picnic, normally hosted in the group’s native city, Philadelphia, will be going virtual this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In light of this year’s format, the hip hop band has teamed up with Michelle Obama’s organization, When We All Vote, in an effort to increase voter registration during the event. Obama will co-host with group members Black Thought and Questlove.
The event will feature performances from H.E.R., Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, SZA, D-Nice and Kirk Franklin along with special guest appearances from Janelle Monae, Tracee Ellis Ross, comedian Deon Cole, entertainment entrepreneur Coach K, digital content creator Wallo 267 and popular NY culinary collective, Ghetto Gastro.
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Shawn Gee, president of Live Nation Urban and The Roots’ manager, spoke to Revolt about the partnership with Obama, saying, “Historically, Questlove and Black Thought have always been very active participants in the voting process. However, I felt that it was imperative that this year I open up both The Roots and my Live Nation Urban platforms as vehicles for both voter education and voter registration. Our goal is to aggressively impact change and we’re going to have some fun while doing so. This year, we are incredibly proud to partner with Mrs. Obama’s When We All Vote to ensure our audience has the resources they need to register and vote in November’s election,”
Volunteers with Obama’s organization will send out text messages to unregistered voters throughout the event. When We All Vote’s goal is to register at least 500,000 eligible voters. Obama tweeted about the event saying she “couldn’t be more excited,” and encouraged people to join in the festivities to get registered to vote.
To sign up as a volunteer with When We All Vote, visit the website here. You can also RSVP for the Roots Picnic on their site. The virtual picnic will stream live, June 27th on YouTube. The Roots will resume their regular festival next year in 2021.
We’re getting our outfits together now!
Photo Courtesy of @RootsPicnic/Instagram