*Queen of Soul Also Leaves A Powerful Civil Rights Legacy*
Last edited Thu Aug 16, 2018, 07:53 PM - Edit history (1)
Aretha Franklin, who was born and rose to fame during the segregation era and went on to sing at the inauguration of the first black president, often used her talent, fortune and platform to inspire millions of black Americans and support the fight for racial equality.
"The earth lost a lot of music when she went home today, but the heavens rejoice. Heaven has a new lead singer for the gospel choir," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a longtime friend who visited her the day before her death. "She gave so much to so many people, from Dr. King, to Mandela, to Barack Obama."
Franklin, who died Thursday at 76, was a close confidante of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a financial lifeline to the civil rights organization he co-founded, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The Queen of Soul's commitment to civil rights was instilled by her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, who also knew King and preached social justice from his pulpit at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit.
The church, in fact, was the first place King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Among those in the congregation were Aretha Franklin and Mahalia Jackson. It was Jackson who later urged the civil rights leader to "tell them about the dream, Martin" at the March on Washington, where he delivered the oration for which he is most famous....
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"Her songs were songs of the movement," Andrew Young, the former King lieutenant U.N. ambassador, said Thursday. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T. ... That's basically what we wanted. The movement was about respect."
King and Franklin were like spiritual siblings, sharing a bond rooted in their Christian faith, Young said. King would often ask Franklin to sing his favorite songs, "Amazing Grace" or "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." When King was assassinated in 1968, Franklin sang "Precious Lord" at his funeral in Atlanta.
Long after the civil rights movement ended, Franklin remained committed to social justice, helping Sharpton as he began his organization, the National Action Network, in New York. She would call Sharpton for updates on the emerging Black Lives Matter movement, asking about such cases as those of Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.
This March 26, 1972 file photo shows the Rev. Jesse Jackson speaking to reporters at the Operation PUSH Soul Picnic in New York as Tom Todd, vice president of PUSH, from second left, Aretha Franklin and Louis Stokes. Franklin died Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018 at her home in Detroit. She was 76. (AP Photo/Jim Wells, File)
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Thanks for the thread appalachiablue
