Already, Jennifer Hudson lent her voice to sing the national anthem for the Democratic National Convention and will.i.am and John Legend created a 'Yes We Can' song and video in honor of Barack Obama.
Now, some of the biggest names in the music and movie world, including Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Diddy, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry , Usher and Forest Whitaker are using their celebrity to try to get young people to register to vote in the Presidential general election.
The deadline for many states, including the battleground states of Michigan, Ohio and Florida , is 30 days before the election, which is this Monday, October 6..
Yesterday, Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Warner Music Group exec Kevin Liles released a joint statement urging people to register to vote at VoteForChange.com. The statement began: 'We are in a state of emergency!!! You must register to vote by Monday, October 6, 2008,'and continued, 'we are at war, banks are closing people are losing their jobs and houses everyday. It is our responsibility to protect our futures.' The group threw their support towards the Democratic nominee, adding, 'Barack Obama cannot win this election on his own; he needs our help.'Taking his commitment to voter registration one step further, Jay-Z added a second free 'Last Chance for Change' concert and voter registration rally at the Bayfront Park Amphitheatre in Miami . And, Wyclef Jean was scheduled to join the New York MC on Sunday's show to rally the vote for Senator Obama and get Florida residents to register before the Monday deadline. Tickets for that show reportedly sold out in just a few hours.
A PSA has also hit the Web and television which features a who's who of Hollywood's brightest, like Halle Berry , Leonardo DiCaprio, Dustin Hoffman, Eva Longaria, Jennifer Aniston, Ashton Kutcher, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, among others. In the clip that pans from star-to-star, sponsored by DeclareYourself.com, they ask young people to register to vote and send the clip to five friends in an effort to get the word out about voting.
Voter registration deadlines for every state can be found at DeclareYourself.com.
1. Too bad most of these people didn't vote in the last two elections. We wouldn't BE in the spot we are NOW if they had gotten off their asses to vote THEN! Thanks a LOT!
Shauna at 10:18AM on Oct 5th 2008