Jitterbugging for Jesus

This is what we hear in Aretha’s voice. Truth. It is a voice that contains the spiritual and the field holler, the blues moan, gospel shout, and jazz improvisation. … She excels at any form she tries, including opera.

“Aretha’s voice is America at its best.”

— Farah Jasmine Griffin on Aretha Franklin in The Nation

Still Life in Soul.

I invite you to join me in gazing on this arresting portrait of a natural woman. If the eyes are the window to the soul, you can look into those Aretha eyes and see how deep the beauty and truth of God run.

Back in the day, when even white guys like me would drive down the road singing along with Aretha’s latest hit with the radio at 120 decibels, Aretha Franklin had the whole world in her hands.

And Aretha Franklin dared to let it all go, kids.

She did so by telling Jet Magazine that she would gladly pay the bail of Angela Davis, an unapologetic communist, for God’s sake, who had been jailed on charges of purchasing firearms used in the takeover of a courtroom in Marin County, California.

Aretha explained that she would pay the bail, not because she believed in communism, but because … well, read this fine take on her life for why she would do it (and why she didn’t have to).

Thanks for the memories, Queen, and for showing us what courage and integrity are about.