Aretha Franklin, who died Thursday at the age of 76 in her home in Detroit, was known for her unbelievable musical talent and majestic career, but the Queen of Soul was also a longtime warrior in the fight for social justice.
A close friend of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who visited her in her final days, Franklin was a vocal supporter of civil rights movements, often performing at benefits and encouraging voter registration. But her private and church-based work—including stepping in to financially support Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement, the families of incarcerated people, and black activist ministers—was largely under the radar, Jackson told the Detroit Free Press recently. That’s part of why she was a fitting choice to sing at the inauguration of America’s first black president, Barack Obama, where she regaled the crowd with an emotion-filled rendition of “My Country Tis of Thee”....
~QUARTZ
Read More/ Hear More: https://qz.com/quartzy/1356841/when-aretha-franklin-offered-to-post-bail-for-angela-davis/
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