Video: Sisters write song of hope to honor new president

By Tealeda J. Nesbitt

Correspondent

VIRGINIA BEACH

Armed with words of encouragement and praise, Linda Courtney Weathers and Glinda Courtney Foots once owned and operated a motivational speaking and consulting firm.

It's no wonder that now the identical twins have written a song commemorating President Barack Obama's first 100 days in office, titled "Wake up America."

They want the song, recorded at KR Music Studio in Virginia Beach, to serve as a reminder that changes are being made by the president to boost and to stabilize the economy.

"We hope that the message from 'Wake up America' will encourage the American people to cling to hope as they join hands with President Barack Obama to help create the change that is needed," said Weathers.

She was so moved by the young senator from Illinois that she went door to door campaigning for him last fall.

Weathers and her twin sister grew up in Dermott, Ark., and have been singing since they were 3. They sing everything from gospel to R&B.

Weathers said she wrote her first poem, poking fun at her professor and the glasses hanging off his nose, while sitting in class at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Foots, who currently lives in Pine Bluff, was also enrolled at the school and entered her sister's poem in a literary contest where it won first place.

Weathers lives off of South Plaza Trail and teaches at Lafayette-Winona Middle School in Norfolk. She now uses her songs and poems to motivate her students and members of the community.

She is working with area churches to produce concerts to raise money for a homeless man and his family that she met one morning on her way to work.

"Wake up America" is not the sisters first socially charged song.

During the Persian Gulf War, they wrote "Keep America Free." President George H.W. Bush sent the ladies a letter thanking them for their song.

In honor of Obama's presidency, the two wrote "Change, The American Anthem For the 21st Century" in January.

It has an accompanying video on YouTube and has gotten over 600 views.

Their current song, "Wake up America," is gaining popularity as well. Levar Stoney, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, recently had a listen.

"Her soulful ballad truly speaks to the new day we've all seen under the Obama administration," Stoney said about Weathers.

Members of the Republican Party of Virginia declined to comment.

Weathers and Foots hope their song will reach the ears of the president and beyond.

In fact, they would like "Wake up America" to have a permanent home in the Smithsonian Institution and serve as a memoir of President Obama's first 100 days in office as the 44th president of the United States of America, they said.

 Tealeda J. Nesbitt, tealedajnesbitt@gmail.com