{"id":4143,"date":"2018-08-17T23:49:16","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T06:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=4143"},"modified":"2018-08-18T08:02:54","modified_gmt":"2018-08-18T15:02:54","slug":"post6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=4143","title":{"rendered":"“Aretha Franklin, Civil Rights Stalwart: \u2018In Her Voice, We Could Feel Our History\u2019”, The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sandra E. Garcia, Aug. 17, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n

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Aretha Franklin, who died on Thursday<\/a>, was best known for her rapturous, soulful voice and her ability to reach into the chest of her audience.<\/p>\n

But beyond the floor-length furs, gorgeous gowns and elaborate headdresses she wore onstage, beyond the lights, Ms. Franklin was involved with the civil rights movement, and she remained passionate about the progress of African-Americans and women throughout her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe used her platform to inform others,\u201d the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson said in an interview. \u201cShe did not put her career before principles.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Read the New York Times <\/em>obituary for Aretha Franklin<\/em><\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Ms. Franklin put on fund-raisers, went on tour, gave free shows and bailed out activists in support of social movements. The fight was never over. Her career spanned five decades, from the early days of the civil rights movement through the two terms of the first black president.<\/p>\n

Singing at Dr. King\u2019s Funeral<\/h2>\n

Ms. Franklin met the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when she was very young. He was a friend of her father, the Rev. Clarence LaVaughn Franklin, who was a minister at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit and a civil rights activist. Dr. King would meet with Mr. Franklin at her family home. From an early age, Ms. Franklin was exposed to the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cShe faced the burden of race and gender,\u201d Mr. Jackson said. \u201cIt was her plight.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Dr. King was killed in 1968, Ms. Franklin, who was 26 years old, was asked to sing \u201cPrecious Lord\u201d at his funeral. The hymn was one of Dr. King\u2019s favorites. He was known to call on Mahalia Jackson, the gospel singer, to sing the hymn to him when he was feeling weary.<\/p>\n

Nearly four years later, Ms. Franklin was asked to sing at Ms. Jackson\u2019s funeral, where she showed up and once again sang the hymn heartily.<\/p>\n

An Example of \u2018Black Togetherness\u2019<\/h2>\n

In 1970, a 26-year-old philosophy instructor at the University of California, Los Angeles named Angela Davis was placed on the F.B.I.\u2019s 10 Most Wanted list. Ms. Davis was wanted on suspicion of buying guns that men later used in a deadly courtroom kidnapping attempt. She was arrested that October.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a December 1970 issue of Jet<\/a> magazine, Ms. Franklin pledged to bail out Ms. Davis \u201cwhether it\u2019s $100,000 or $250,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAngela Davis must go free. Black people will be free,\u201d she told the magazine. \u201cI\u2019ve been locked up and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can\u2019t get no peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the money; I got it from black people \u2014 they\u2019ve made me financially able to have it and I want to use it in ways that will help our people,\u201d Ms. Franklin said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In the subsequent issue of Jet, readers wrote the editor calling Ms. Franklin a \u201ctrue sister\u201d and \u201cblack and beautiful.\u201d One reader wrote: \u201cThis shows a sign of blacks becoming more together. The money made by Ms. Franklin is money from the black community to help Ms. Davis, this is black togetherness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms. Davis was eventually bailed out<\/a> by Roger McAfee, a dairy farmer who put his property up as collateral. Ms. Davis was acquitted of all charges and continued to be an activist for black rights.<\/p>\n

A Voice That Sang for Everyone<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In January 2009, Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, was inaugurated. Mr. Obama asked Ms. Franklin, who had supported his campaign, to sing \u201cMy Country \u2019Tis of Thee\u201d at the historic event.<\/p>\n

Ms. Franklin showed up and showed out, as usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine,\u201d Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, said in a statement Thursday<\/a>. \u201cThrough 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 \u2014 our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Franklin performed several times when Mr. Obama was in office. During the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors<\/a>, Ms. Franklin sang \u201c(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,\u201d in tribute to Carole King, a co-writer of the song, who was receiving a lifetime achievement award.<\/p>\n

[Read about when Aretha Franklin <\/em>brought down the house at the Kennedy Center<\/em><\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

It was one of Ms. Franklin\u2019s most powerful performances in the last few years of her life. Mr. Obama is seen wiping tears away from his face within seconds of Ms. Franklin starting to sing.<\/p>\n

Ms. Franklin, who began singing while playing the piano, eventually stood up and walked toward the audience. She then removed her floor-length fur coat, a sign that she was going to take the crowd to church, and elevated the room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The audience \u2014 which included Viola Davis, Ms. Obama, George Lucas and Clive Davis \u2014 was on its feet by the time the performance was over.<\/p>\n

A Woman for the Women<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n