Savagery level = President.
While the 30th anniversary of SXSW marks the first time a US President has ever spoken at the festival, it comes at a price. President Barack Obama will be skipping ex-President Ronald Reagan’s wife Nancy Reagan’s funeral, to make it to the event.
(Courtesy: fm.cnbc.com)
While Barack will be at SXSW Interactive on March 11, Michelle will make her presence felt at SXSW Music on March 16. The President will speak on civic engagement, and joining him will be the editor-in-chief and CEO of The Texas Tribunal, Evan Smith. Obama will address ways to tackle the lack of citizen activity on issues like climate change and politics.
(Courtesy: d.ibtimes.co.uk)
Michelle Obama, on the other hand, will talk about her initiative Let Girls Learn, a program dedicated to getting underprivileged girls around the world to a good school. Planned as a part of Women’s History Month, it makes perfect sense to hold a conference on girl education, as more than 62 million girls don’t have good educational facilities.
Via the official SXSW website, co-founder Roland Swenson expressed his happiness over the proceedings. “I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate our event’s 30th year than to welcome both the President and First Lady to SXSW. As each new generation comes up at SXSW they look for ways they can be of service, and it’s important to reflect and support that message. President and Mrs. Obama’s visit here will inspire attendees to that purpose,” said the co-founder.
Obama has not announced any plans of skipping SXSW, and this has drawn a lot of flak from the general public. What do you think about the President skipping an ex-First Lady’s funeral for a music festival? Let us know in the comments!