In 1921 a mob of white vigilantes and policemen looted the wealthiest black community in the US and burned it to the ground. 300 people killed, 10,000 made homeless. The National Guard imprisoned every black person in the area. There were no prosecutions. (via /r/BlackPeopleTwitter)
Fordham Professor, Coast Guard Pioneer and Civil Rights Activist Dr. Olivia J. Hooker
Aretha Franklin, onstage in Chicago in 1992. She sold more than 75 million records during her life, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.
Aretha Franklin, pictured in 1968, died Thursday. Known as the “Queen of Soul,” she recorded 17 Top 10 singles.
The singer poses with her Grammy Award for best female R&B vocal performance at the 1972 awards ceremony.
Franklin arrives for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2009.
Franklin onstage at a gala performance on April 19, 2017, in New York City to celebrate the world premiere of Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, a documentary film about Davis.
Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul,” died Thursday in her home city of Detroit after battling pancreatic cancer. Her death was confirmed by her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn. She was 76.
Franklin sold more than 75 million records during her life, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time. She took soul to a new level and inspired generations of singers who came after her.
No one’s life can be condensed to one word — but Aretha Franklin came close when she sang one word: “respect.”
“Respect” was written by the great Otis Redding. In his version, a man is pleading, offering his woman anything she wants in exchange for her respect. He sang: “Hey little girl, you’re sweeter than honey / And I’m about to give you all of my money / But all I want you to do / Is just give it, give it / Respect when I come home …”
Aretha changed those lyrics to demand parity. “Oooh, your kisses,” she sang, “Sweeter than honey / And guess what? / So is my money …” In her hands, “Respect” became an empowering song — for black women and for all women. It was a No. 1 hit in 1967, and it became her signature song.
Franklin was 25 years old when “Respect” was released. But she had been singing since she was a small child in her father’s New Bethel Baptist Church.
Aretha Franklin, the undisputed Queen of Soul and a music legend who enjoyed a career longer than many of her successors, died Thursday. She was 76.
Her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn, confirmed her death to BuzzFeed News in a statement, saying she died at her home in Detroit at 9:50 a.m. local time. The cause of death was advanced pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type.
“In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart,“ her family said in a statement. “We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family.”
The family also said they had been “deeply touched” by the outpouring of love and support they had received in recent days, after word first emerged the singer had fallen ill.
“We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on,” they said.
No other vocalist has reached the heights Franklin did during her monumental career. She is the most charted female singer in Billboard history, the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the winner of 18 Grammy Awards, and the “greatest singer of all time,” according to Rolling Stone.
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