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Los Angeles renames street after former President Obama

Posted at 1:02 PM, May 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-05 13:04:09-04

The City of Los Angeles has renamed a nearly 4-mile stretch of road from “Rodeo Road” to “Obama Boulevard,” in honor of the country’s first African-American president.

The location is significant, the city said, because Obama held his first campaign rally in Los Angeles on February 20, 2007, at Rancho Cienega Park. The park sits on Rodeo Road, right across from W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

“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,” tweeted City Council President Herb Wesson after the renaming Saturday.

Rodeo Road, which runs through a historic black neighborhood, is not the first strip to be named in honor of former presidents. The district where the road sits is also home to Washington Boulevard, Adams Boulevard and Jefferson Boulevard.

Wesson introduced the motion to rename the stretch of road back in 2017.

Final approval came last August — exactly 10 years after Obama made history by officially becoming the Democratic Party’s first African-American presidential nominee on August 28, 2008. The City Council voted 15-0 for the name change.

“We’re thrilled that Angelenos and visitors will forever be reminded of the legacy of President Barack Obama when traveling across L.A,” Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted at the time.