Obama Boulevard will be unveiled this weekend and the city of Los Angeles intends to celebrate with a day-long festival featuring ’80s hip hop sensation, Doug E. Fresh.
Last summer, the city council voted unanimously to rename a 3½-mile stretch of Rodeo Road to ‘Obama Boulevard.’ The road should not be confused with the more popular Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
“We’re thrilled that Angelenos and visitors will forever be reminded of the legacy of President [Obama] when traveling across L.A.,” Mayor Eric Garcetti beamed.
This Saturday, they intend to celebrate that decision when they unveil the new road meant to honor the first black President of the United States.
It’s here! Join us May 4 for the Obama Blvd. naming ceremony and street festival! The event is FREE to the public but tickets are limited, so sign up to reserve your spot today ➡️ https://t.co/1cy9WRt8ad #ObamaFestLA #ObamaBlvd pic.twitter.com/JgRgfkSlLF
— L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson (@HerbJWesson) April 23, 2019
Free Party
Amazingly enough, one must register for the event by handing over their information such as name, address, telephone number, etc. It would seem more appropriate to celebrate Obama by allowing anyone to attend, regardless of having papers (tickets). Open borders and no voter ID for the big festival, as it were.
They did get one thing right, though – the Obama celebration is free.
“The location selected for the ceremony and festival is where Obama Boulevard will intersect with Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, creating one of the most significant African American points of interest in the country,” an online flyer reads.
The city of LA says it will hold a daylong festival in honor of the official name change of Rodeo Road to Obama Boulevard next month https://t.co/ur7SXYj7M5 pic.twitter.com/KglrSA3bHO
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) April 23, 2019
The Hollywood Reporter writes that the section where the road runs is often referred to as the “Black Beverly Hills.”
Not Everyone is Happy
Not everyone has celebrated the choice of roadway.
“Obama is something we’ve never had, and in my lifetime we thought we would never see it,” one local gardener told the Los Angeles Times last summer. “He deserves more than a little bitty street.”
In fact, the Times added, “most Angelenos would be hard-pressed to locate Rodeo Road on a map.”
Not to mention the former President has a legacy of making the racial divide in this country far worse than it was on the day of his historic election, while presiding over terrible unemployment rates for minority groups. On nearly every leading economic issue, Black Americans lost ground under his administration. Perhaps ‘Black Beverly Hills’ isn’t the best choice.
There is historical significance to the location, however. Obama held a campaign rally at the Rancho Cienega Sports Center and Park, located on the boulevard that will now bear his name, his first stop in California after announcing his bid for the White House.
L.A. City Council President Herb J. Wesson, who spearheaded the effort to rename the road has coined the event “ObamaFest LA.”
The former President has been invited but there is no indication he will attend.
