Barack Obama to Honor His Musical Hero, Stevie Wonder

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During Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, Stevie Wonder honored him in song at several rallies and fundraisers. Now the President is returning the favor to the artist he’s called his musical hero.

On Wednesday, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will present Wonder, 58, with the Library of Congress’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

The salute, to be held in the White House’s East Room and broadcast Thursday night on PBS, will feature a number of artists, including Martina McBride, who will sing Wonder’s hit ‘You and I,’ Will.I.Am, Tony Bennett, Paul Simon and India.Arie.

Obama last year told Rolling Stone that he really got into music during Wonder’s heyday in the early ’70s, when he released albums like Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. “So that was a guy I loved.”

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Obama’s Half Brother George Obama Arrested For Drug Possession

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Photos: PR

President Obama’s half brother, George Obama, has been arrested in Kenya on charges of marijuana possession. George Obama was arrested by Kenyan police in Nairobi. Read more on George Obama’s arrest below.

Inspector Augustine Mutembei CNN that Obama had marijuana, called Bhang in Kenya, and that Obama also resisted arrest. George Obama has to appear in court on Monday.

George Obama said he has done nothing wrong, saying, “They took me from my home,” he said, “I don’t know why they are charging me.”

George Obama doesn’t really know his half brother,

President

Barack Obama. The two men have met before but that’s it.

President Obama and George have the same father, who died in a car accident when George was just six months old.

George is the youngest of Barack Obama’s father’s seven children.

Media reports of George Obama living in a shack and earning $1 day were greatly exaggerated according to George Obama.

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Five Things You Don’t Know About Obama’s Mother-In-Law

President Obama’s mother-in-law (mom of course, to First Lady Michelle), 72-year-old Marian Robinson, a retired bank secretary, is described as “candid and independent,” and she’s been there to fill in the gaps for Malia and Sasha while their parents were busy with election campaigning.  There are a few things that you may not (or maybe you do!) know about the First children’s grandmother.

List after the jump!

Although Marian has been doing grandmotherly duties, such as taking the girls to school, making meals, and helping them with bedtime, she may not be your typical mother-in-law.

From PEOPLE:

She’s not moving to the White House permanently
Much ink has been spilled about Robinson’s plans to share quarters with the President’s family at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. But an Obama spokeswoman says Robinson will only temporarily move in to help granddaughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, settle into their new life. As Robinson told PEOPLE after the election: “I love those people, but I love my own house. The White House reminds me of a museum and it’s like, how do you sleep in a museum?”

She loves yoga
For this spry septuagenarian, limbering up is a family affair. Eleanor “Mama Kaye” Wilson, godmother to Sasha and Malia, is Robinson’s yoga partner, and their instructor is her younger brother, Stephen Shields, 57. “He’s our youngest child out of seven children and he’s the wisest,” Robinson tells PEOPLE. ” He has found a way to make a living doing what he likes to do. and I’ve always admired that.”

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ObamaRama: The Musical!

Screw “Wicked.” Andrew Lloyd Weber can kiss my grits! Now there’s a NEW musical in town and it’s inspired by our brand spankin’ new President. Yes, “Obama On My Mind” is coming to London in March!

I’m not kidding. It’s happening. It’s going to be a “pop, gospel, jazz, and soft rock” score and is written by Teddy Hayes, American crime writer. It’s described as a “humorous look at the weird and wonderful world behind the scenes of a small Obama campaign office and the larger than life characters who make the wheels turn, the cogs whirr, and bring in the votes.”

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Obama’s Open Letter To Daughters Malia & Sasha

President-elect Barack Obama has written an open letter to his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.  It’s titled, “What I Want for You – and Every Child in America.”  He tells his girls what he hopes for them and why he took this journey to run for President.

Letter after the jump!

The letter, which will appear in Parade magazine this weekend, reads:

Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you’ve both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you have. But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn’t make up for all the time we’ve been apart. I know how much I’ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I’d make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn’t seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren’t rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you’ll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country—but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free—that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

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16 Funniest Obama T-Shirts

We had to laugh at some of these Barack Obama t-shirts. And given the upcoming inauguration, we had to put this up as a hotlink.

Link: The 16 Funniest Obama T-Shirts

Marian Robinson Obama Mother-In-Law Moving Into The White House

Introducing The First Grandma.

Marian Robinson, the mother-in-law of President-Elect Barack Obama is moving into the White House- at least temporarily- to support her daughter Michelle and granddaughters Sasha and Malia as they adjust to their new life in Washington, transition officials said Friday.

Mrs. Robinson, a Chicago native who retired from her job as a bank executive secretary last summer, has never lived outside of The Windy City, so the move will be as big an adjustment for her as it will be for the other four members of The First Family. Barack Obama has called her one of the unsung heroes of his campaign.

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