A TRIBUTE TO AMERICA’S ONE & ONLY “QUEEN OF SOUL” & OUR GORGEOUS BLACK DIVA: ARETHA FRANKLIN… The VOICE for CIVIL RIGHTS & WOMEN’S RIGHTS = HUMAN RIGHTS… 1942 -2018…
Aretha Franklin, the ‘Queen of Soul,’ Dies at 76
Aretha Franklin’s 20 Essential Songs
Barack Obama Reacts To Aretha Franklin’s Death
America has no royalty. But we do have a chance to earn something more enduring. Born in Memphis and raised in Detroit, Aretha Franklin grew up performing gospel songs in her father’s congregation. For more than six decades since, every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine. Through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade—our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance.
Aretha may have passed on to a better place, but the gift of her music remains to inspire us all. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. Michelle and I send our prayers and warmest sympathies to her family and all those moved by her song.
DON LEMON – CNN – ON ARETHA FRANKLIN…
JOHN LEWIS – CNN – ON ARETHA FRANKLIN THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST…
The NATURAL WOMAN with AMAZING GRACE that earned her RESPECT from AMERICA & THE WHOLE WORLD…