The Roots have announced plans to partner with the former first lady, Michelle Obama and her Nonprofit organization “When We All Vote”, to present the 13th annual Roots Picnic virtually on June 27 on YouTube. The Roots are taking their Picnic online this year, and they’re teaming up with the former First Lady to give the event an extra boost.
The event is executive produced by Shawn Gee (Live Nation Urban), the Roots’ Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq Trotter (Two One Five Entertainment) and Dan Parise (DPS), will be hosted by Quest, Black Thought and Obama, with sets from The Roots, H.E.R., Roddy Ricch, Lil Baby, SZA, Kirk Franklin, Snoh Aalegra, Earthgang, G Herbo, Polo G, D Nice and Musiq Soulchild, backed by The Roots.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chris Paul, Tom Hanks, Liza Koshy, Kerry Washington, Tracee Ellis Ross, Janelle Monáe, and Elaine Welteroth will make special appearances.
Couldn’t be more excited that @whenweallvote is teaming up to co-host @TheRoots Picnic on June 27! Join us and get registered to vote: https://t.co/vXp9MHLm8S pic.twitter.com/XHtTaDfIvT
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) June 16, 2020
The event will also feature pre-recorded messages from musicians, athletes and social media influencers. The annual Roots Picnic event, which features music and more at Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement by the organization’s Managing Director of Communications and Culture, Stephanie L. Young said “As we face one of the most challenging years for our nation, we could all use a moment of inspiration and light to help focus on what we can do to take action together, and that action is voting. When We All Vote is on a mission to change the culture around voting and we are committed to closing the age and race gap of those who show up at the ballot box, increasing participation in each and every election; “To change the culture means we have to be in the culture, and iconic events like the The Roots Picnic, a celebration of the most influential artists of today, is just that”, Young stated.
According to The Roots manager and President of Live Nation Urban, Shawn Gee, said “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 for vehicles for both voter education and voter registration,” Roots manager and President of Live Nation Urban Shawn Gee said in a statement.
“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,” he continued.
The event’s goal is to engage and reach 500,000 eligible voters, with When We All Vote volunteers signing up to text voters throughout the show through Outvote, a web and mobile organizing platform used to reach unregistered voters. Volunteers can sign-up to learn how to reach voters before the event here.
Fans can subscribe to The Roots Official YouTube Channel and tune into the broadcast stream here.
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