By PoliZette Staff | May 6, 2019
The City of Los Angeles has renamed a 3.5 mile stretch of road after former President Barack Obama.
The road was formerly called Rodeo Road and now changes to Obama Boulevard — in honor of the nation’s first African-American commander-in-chief.
The city said the location is important because it’s where Obama held his first campaign rally in Los Angeles on Feb. 20, 2007 — at Rancho Cienega Park.
The park sits on Rodeo Road, across from W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, as CNN and other outlets have noted.
Obama also studied at Occidental College, which is north of downtown Los Angeles, from 1979 to 1981, according to the motion filed by Herb Wesson, city council president, to rename the street.
IT'S OFFICIAL: Obama Boulevard unveiled in Los Angeles as crowds celebrate historic occasion https://t.co/cCbEMazxlt pic.twitter.com/hdzK5tLXPJ
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) May 5, 2019
The 3.5-mile road runs through a predominantly African-American residential area and past Rancho Cienga Park, where Obama held a campaign rally in 2007. https://t.co/Y5DHbvn1FE
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 6, 2019
Thank you all for joining us Saturday as we celebrated the historic unveiling of #ObamaBlvd. If you have any photos or videos of the event please tag #ObamaBlvd! We’ll be posting more photos and videos of the event this week so stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/ifj2jLFE5j
— L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson (@HerbJWesson) May 6, 2019
“For every child who will drive down this street and see the name of the first black president of our country, this boulevard will serve as a physical reminder that no goal is out of reach and that no dream is too big,” Wesson tweeted after the renaming event on Saturday.
Rodeo Road runs through a historic black neighborhood.
In a statement on his website, Wesson also said the street renaming is a way to “ensure that America’s 44th president’s legacy is shared for generations to come for Angelenos and visitors alike,” as Time magazine also noted.
Share your thoughts‚ and see this video:
This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
Read more at LifeZette.com:
Pelosi Says Dems Must ‘Own the Center Left, Own the Mainstream’ to Beat Trump Decisively in 2020
Tiger Woods Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House