Roots Picnic to be a Virtual Experience Hosted By Michelle Obama

Like most things in 2020, Philadelphia’s legendary band, The Roots, plan to take their 13th Annual Roots Picnic virtual. This year, they are partnering with former first lady, Michelle Obama and her nonpartisan, non-profit organization "When We All Vote." When We All Vote was founded in 2018 and aims to bring awareness on voter registration, specifically with the younger generations.

The goal is to get 500,000 people to register to vote through performances from a variety of hip hop, R&B, and gospel artists. According to ABC 6, There will be volunteers working to sign up unregistered voters.

A statement from The Roots said, “the partnership comes from a shared ethos of wanting to reach the most underrepresented community of people when it comes to voting, black people between the ages of 21-35."

Stephanie Young, the managing director for culture, communications and media partnerships at When We All Vote, added that the picnic is a perfect opportunity to encourage people to vote and introduce it in a way that will inspire people to make voting a habit, not just a one-time duty.

"Right now what we're facing with COVID-19, police violence and unrest that we've seen in the streets, we can now show Americans how voting on every level of government impacts their lives," said Young. "We want to help illuminate how important and how impactful elected officials are in your life."

Performances at The Roots Picnic include H.E.R., Lil Baby, SZA, Roddy Ricch, Kirk Franklin and D-Nice. There will also be appearances by Kerry Washington, Tracee Ellis Ross, Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monae, Chris Paul, and more.

It will be streamed on YouTube June 27 and hosted by Questlove, Michelle Obama and Black Thought.