LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson has announced that on Saturday,May 4, the City of Los Angeles will officially unveil Obama Boulevard in honor of America’s 44th President of the United States of America. A free daylong music and street festival beginning at noon, the festivities will include special guests and performers, vendors, food trucks and will culminate with the unveiling of Obama Boulevard. Celebrity musical guests include Doug E. Fresh, Yo-Yo, BJ the Chicago Kid, Battlecat, Kurrupt and more. The location selected for the ceremony is where Obama Boulevard will intersect with Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in one of Los Angeles’ most iconic Black neighborhoods–creating one of the most significant African-American points of interest in the country. The event will be ticketed and is free and open to the public. Tickets for the event are available online at obamafest.eventbrite.com. Attendees must enter their ZIP code and there is a six-ticket limit per household.
Obama Boulevard will replace Rodeo Boulevard, a 3.5-mile street that runs from “The Heart of Screenland” better known as Culver City, to Mid-City Los Angeles, passing by the legendary Dorsey High School and communities of Baldwin Hills and the Rancho Cienega Sports Center and Park — the 2007 site of a rally for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama near the beginning of his historic presidential campaign.
With the addition of Obama Boulevard in America’s second largest city, President’s Row is officially established in Los Angeles including nearby George Washington Boulevard, John Adams Boulevard and Thomas Jefferson Boulevard.
“I’m thrilled that Los Angeles will be home to Obama Boulevard,” said Council President Wesson. “Our history is important and this is one way that we will ensure that America’s 44th President’s legacy is shared for generations to come for Angelenos and visitors alike.”
The unveiling ceremony is being organized through a partnership between Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson–who introduced and carried the legislation to rename Rodeo Boulevard to Obama Boulevard, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles Urban League which is currently led by longtime Obama supporter Michael Lawson, L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Congresswoman Karen Bass. The event is being produced by Bridge Street, which recently produced the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Mountaintop Speech in Memphis.
