NEW ORLEANS
Two rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination courted voters at one of the nation’s premier black cultural events, the Essence Music Festival, which has long mixed partying with efforts to effect social change.
Organizers of the festival, in its 13th year, have said participation by prominent politicians can only enhance that.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama hit the Louisiana Superdome’s stage Thursday night amid big name entertainers and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was to deliver her message Friday at one of the festival’s numerous seminars in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
Obama was last in the region in May when he spoke at the National Conference of Black Mayors in Baton Rouge. Later, he visited students at Pierre A. Capdau Charter School in New Orleans and called on the federal government to invest $250 million in the city’s struggling schools.
Clinton also addressed the mayors’ group and later that month delivered the keynote address to graduates of Dillard University.
On Thursday, Obama urged spectators to help him change the course of American history by addressing the social ills brought to light during Hurricane Katrina.
