Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 8-10-18

Obama News
Michelle Obama Pushes Voters To Polls
NEW ORLEANS --- Former U. S. First Lady Michelle Obama discusses her forthcoming mem- oir titled, “Becoming,” during the 2018 American Library Association Annual Conference on June 22, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman /Getty Images)
Our forever First Lady Michelle Obama will join the 2018 voter registration campaign called “When We All Vote,” Sept. 22- 29 for a “week of action” ahead of the midterm elections, Variety reports.
Mrs. Obama appears in a series of Public Service Announcement videos using her political muscle to usher voters to the polls.
“There’s too much at stake to sit on the side- lines, not just in this election, but in every elec- tion, and we need your help right now,” she said in a video.
On Monday, Mrs. Obama’s video was re- leased to commemorate the Voting Rights Act, which President Lyndon Johnson signed on
Aug. 6, 1965.
“Voting is the only way to ensure that our val-
ues and priorities are represented in the halls of power,” Mrs. Obama said in a statement. “And it’s not enough to just vote for president every four years. We all have to vote in every single election: for mayor, governor, school board, state legislature and Congress.”
“The future of our families, our communities and our country belongs to those of us who show up, cast our votes, and make our voices heard,” she concluded.
The “When We All Vote” initiative reportedly comes after months of top-secret planning. Mrs. Obama will join other A-List celebrities who signed on, including actor Tom Hanks, country stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Houston Rockets star Chris Paul, singer Janelle Monae, and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
In September events will be held in in De- troit, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Houston, and Milwaukee, according to reports.
According Fortune.com, the organization re- portedly hopes to raise an $8 million budget, pri- marily through corporate sponsorships and foundation grants, to fund volunteer recruitment and training, improved voter registration processes, and an increased conversation and participation in the voting process across the country.
Mrs. Obama is set to release her memoir, “Becoming,” on Nov. 13.
‘Obama! Obama!’:
Barack Obama Is Back On Martha’s Vineyard
Former President Barack Obama goes to lunch at Nancy's Restaurant.
Unlike Alan Dershowitz, it appears Barack Obama shouldn’t be worried about get- ting the cold shoulder on Martha’s Vineyard.
The former president stopped by The Cardboard Box on Monday night, drawing huge crowds outside of the Oak Bluffs restaurant.
According to The Martha’s Vineyard Times, Obama ar- rived on the island Saturday for a vacation that could last for much of August. The for- mer first family frequented Martha’s Vineyard during summers of Obama’s presi- dency, and visited again the first summer after Obama left office in 2017.
Cardboard Box owner Ben DeForest said Obama was joined for dinner Monday by
former first lady Michelle Obama and 12 of the couple’s friends. DeForest said that the couple has previously dined at his other restaurant, the Red Cat Kitchen, three times, so he appreciated them deciding to try out his new spot, which opened in May.
“They could’ve gone to the Red Cat, where they know the experience, where they know what to expect,” DeForest said. “It’s a very private experi- ence over there. It’s quiet. It’s contained.”
According to DeForest, because of The Cardboard Box’s larger space and its loca- tion on the main drag of Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs, the Obama’s dinner was anything but private.
Photos and videos taken outside of The Cardboard Box show swarms of people lining the sidewalks, with some chanting, “Obama! Obama!’’ moments before the former president and former first lady left the restaurant amid cheers and screams.
“It shut the town down,” DeForest said. “It was really special. It was a testament to the power and the reverence in which people hold them. It was like The Beatles were in here in the early ’60s.”
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