Michelle Obama Encourages People to Vote at the Roots Picnic

Michelle Obama helped to launch the annual Roots Picnic on Saturday with a passionate speech about the vote. As QuestLove and Black Thought was on the star-studded lineup for the event, his co-host was surprised at the jump in a video chat to say a couple of words. “These last few months have been pretty heavy for everyone and the truth is that we still have our work cut out for us in the coming weeks and months,” he said in the clip. “I want to remind everyone that we have an election coming up and could not be more important that everyone makes their voice heard in all this time.” She encourages all who look to the head of his non-profit organization When We Have All The Votes to begin with, because “we all deserve our voices to be heard.”

The former first lady echoed similar sentiments during a recent interview for Harper’s Bazaar. While chatting with writer and producer Shonda Rhimes, Michelle discusses why voting is important to everyone, but especially to the young voters. “A lot of people do not want anyone making decisions for them, especially when the person can’t see the world the same way as they do,” he said. “That’s what happens when you don’t vote: You are giving your power to another person—someone who sees the world the same as you. You’re leaving make some really key decisions on the way in which we live.” Watch his speech about voting in the plenary above.