TresSugar

Take Your First Lady to School Day, She'll Bring the Stars

CitizenSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:45:30 -0700

Michelle Obama really has this women's-history-month thing down! Today she organized a star-studded career day that was held at schools throughout the Washington, DC, area.

Friends of the first lady, including Alicia Keys, Sheryl Crow, actress Alfre Woodard, and makeup mogul Bobbi Brown shared inspiring stories of success.

Michelle advised the students to start preparing for college now and told the inquiring minds that, yes, she puts her own clothes on in the morning.

To see more photos of Michelle, her friends, and the excited students, read more.

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Yes We Can Buy a CD to Support Obama Campaign

LibertySugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:15:12 -0700

Pro-Obama musicians have teamed up to record "Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement." Proceeds of the first-ever campaign compilation will support Obama's campaign. The artists also hope that the music will mobilize voters.

So whose voices make up a grassroots movement? Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Kanye West, Adam Levine, and John Legend all grace the album, whose self-proclaimed inspiration is "hope, unity, and change." It also includes excerpts from Obama's speeches. You can either download, or purchase the CD on Barack Obama's website. Will you pick up the Obama soundtrack, while you're waiting on the world to change?

To see the whole list of tracks, read more.

"Eternity" - Lionel Richie
"Signed Sealed Delivered" - Stevie Wonder
"Waiting on the World to Change" - John Mayer
"American Prayer" - Dave Stewart
"Battle Cry" - Shontelle
"Make It Better" - Los Lonely Boys
"Pride in the Name of Love" - John Legend
"I Have a Dream" - BeBe Winans
"Am I All Alone" - Suai
"One Is the Magic #" - Jill Scott
"Love & Hope" - Ozomatli
"Looking East" - Jackson Browne
"Out of Our heads" - Sheryl Crow
"Promised Land" - Malik Yusef with Kanye West and Adam Levine of Maroon 5
"Hold On" - Yolanda Adams
"America the Beautiful" - Keb' Mo'
"America" - Ken Stacey
"Wide River" - Buddy Mille

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10 Songs When You Need to Sing Out Loud

DearSugar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:00:00 -0700

Sometimes, if it's been a particularly rough day or you're just in a funk, blasting a great tune and singing at the top of your lungs can really relieve the tension. So roll up your windows, turn on your iPod, and just let it all out! Here are 10 of my favorite songs to sing at the top of my lungs:

"Since You Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson
"Free Falling" - Tom Petty
"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper
"Don't Stop Believing" - Journey
"Holiday" - Madonna
"Buddy Holly" - Weezer
"Semi-Charmed Life" - Third Eye Blind
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - Righteous Brothers
"1999" - Prince
"Strong Enough" - Sheryl Crow

I know you have your own, so add them below!

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The Morning After: Our Reactions to Obama's Change Promise

LibertySugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:30:34 -0700

Liberty: Last night I saw Americans who have been hiding in the shadows of apathy or cynicism come out and get excited about the future of their country. Americans who showed that they can wait in a line for hours, just to participate in a celebration of their power to make a difference.

Barack Obama's speech stressed individual and mutual responsibility. He said Democratic leadership, and an Obama presidency, would not do everything for Americans. It would, though, help them accomplish the things they cannot do for themselves, like protect the country from national security threats in Afghanistan, and give those who do not have bootstraps a pair so they can pull themselves up into the promise of middle-class prosperity. And while he was at it, Obama fiercely made the case that John McCain has and will turn his back on America's urgent needs because he just doesn't get it.

Whenever a politician claims that government can make peoples' lives better, critics become skeptical. But last night I saw a candidate that will, and did, make a commitment to ordinary people. Who did the best he could to offer specifics, without falling prey to a typical Democratic weakness of ignoring an emotional argument. Democracy became an action verb, not something that the well-connected took care of for you.

To see Citizen's reaction and more pictures we took at the event, read more.

Citizen: At its heart, there wasn't so much about the speech that was innately objectionable, the broad strokes he painted are a fine landscape - but he doesn't speak to me. Whether a fundamental difference of political philosophy or a complete lack of chemistry with the man, as much as I enjoyed witnessing the spectacle, I was not moved by it. I was not inspired by the parade of done-wrong stories. When he said, "More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making." My head screamed, but does that mean they're for the government's fixing?

I'm all for roads and a smart, no-waste globally beneficially governmental structure (and let's get it right), but I sure as hell don't want to rely on that as my complete bedrock of security. With great reliance comes great power, and I don't want my government to have that power over me. My building blocks of support come from the ground up, not the top down. When things go wrong, I want solutions to come from self first, then family, then community, on up - the government would never be my first call. As Liberty and I hashed it out afterward, it's a different philosophy. If you have a safety net you're more likely to fall. It's just human nature. If someone will fix your problems for you, why wouldn't you let them? Though he said this: "Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves," that was not the real message conveyed last night, at least not to me.

Then there was the event itself. I've loved this week - you don't have to support a candidate to support the effort of democracy. But last night's dressed-down, come as you are, jumbo-soda and plate-of-nachos stadium setting was disappointing. With the crowd doing the wave and the half time-style line up, I kept waiting for kickoff. Between the utter distraction and screaming every time a famous person appeared, for much of the event what was happening on stage was an after thought.

And on that stage? A veritable variety show. Sheryl Crow? Stevie Wonder? Where is the sense of decorum and humility and ceremony in the midst of a rock concert? There is a time and place for celebration, but this most serious and sterling of occasions isn't it. I'm here for the speeches, not the snacks; the weight of grave responsibility, not the wave; and the gracious dignity, not the grandstand.

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Barack's Big Speech: What Was It Like at Invesco Field?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:00:55 -0700

What a night! While Liberty and I hashed out the finer points of Barack's speech over dinner, one thing was clear: the setting was pretty unbelievable (for reasons we'll get into soon.) Wading through the mile-long line to the Mile High Stadium, we scored front and center seats - so front and center, we were right under the Oprah, Kanye, Angela Basset, Gayle King, Forrest Whittaker suite.

Shawn Johnson leading the pledge and Jennifer Hudson singing the national anthem was just the beginning. From Sheryl Crow to Stevie Wonder, to Will.i.am and John Legend, the stage was a parade of stars before Barack even thought about taking the stage. I'm telling you, when Oprah showed up, the screams from the crowd? I thought someone had died, or worse. The weather was like bathwater, and was a perfect stage for the speeches - the real main event - that we'll get into very soon, because we sure didn't see eye-to-eye on this one. In the meantime, take a peek at who else took in the view tonight.

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To see Will.i.am and John Legend's performance of "Yes We Can," read more.