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August 22, 2018
Aretha Franklin’s Powerful Legacy
Funeral services to
span four days
Funeral services for the undisputed
“Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin will
span four days, with two public viewings
available to her fans and community.
Franklin, a cultural icon around the
goble who sang with matchless style on
such classics as “Think,” ‘’I Say a Lit-
tle Prayer” and her signature song, “Re-
spect,” died Thursday at her home in De-
troit from pancreatic cancer. She was 76.
Franklin will lie in state in two loca-
tions with the first viewing to take place
at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum
of African American History from Aug.
28-29. A second public viewing will take
place on Aug. 30 at Franklin’s lifelong
church, New Bethel Baptist, founded by
her father, the late Rev. C.L. Franklin.
Aretha Franklin’s funeral will be held
Aug. 31, also in her hometown of De-
troit.
Franklin left not only a powerful lega-
cy for her songs, but also for civil rights.
Former President and First Lady Barack
and Michelle Obama offered their condo-
lences and remembrances:
“Through her compositions and un-
The undisputed “Queen of Soul,” singer Aretha Franklin, died Thursday after a long illness.
matched 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.
“Michelle and I send our prayers and
warmest sympathies to her family and all
those moved by her song.”
The NAACP, the nation’s leading civ-
il rights organization issued a statement,
“We remember Aretha for the joy and love
she brought into our lives and society via
her powerful voice,” said NAACP Chair-
man Leon W. Russell. “No one can dis-
cuss the civil rights movement nor music
without paying respect to the Queen of
Soul. We’ll miss her dearly.”
The NAACP pointed out how Franklin
not only revolutionized the sound of mu-
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sic during her career, she contributed to
the changing of our society from a seg-
regated one to one where all people, men
and women were equal.
Her chart-topping hit Respect became
the De facto anthem for a nation strug-
gling to break free from the chains of rac-
ism, segregation and a staunch patriarchy.
Not only did she lend her voice to the
struggle, but at times and in substantial
ways, donated money to the Civil Rights
Movement, supporting the work of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., the NAACP and
others, NAACP officials said.
“What would our struggle or American
society be without the music of Aretha?”
asked NAACP President and CEO Der-
rick Johnson. “Her unmitigated ‘Black-
ness’ and contributions to art and national
progress places her on the Mt. Everest of
American icons who changed this society
for the better.”
The civil rights organization presented
the Vanguard Award to @ArethaFranklin
back in 2008 for her role in advancing
awareness of racial and social issues.
Franklin sang at Obama’s inauguration
as the first black president and often used
her talent, fortune and platform to inspire
millions of black Americans and support
the fight for racial equality.
“She not only provided the soundtrack
for the civil rights movement, Aretha’s
music transcended race, nationality and
religion and helped people from all back-
grounds to recognize what they had in
common,” said longtime civil rights lead-
er the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery.
Franklin was a close confidante of the
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and her com-
mitment to civil rights was instilled by her
father, who also knew King and preached
C ontinueD on P age 5
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Portland City Council Candidate Jo Ann
Hardesty released her business tax records
for the past three years last week in re-
sponse to criticism from her election op-
ponent Loretta Smith that Hardesty failed
to register her consulting business with the
city and state.
According to a published report, the re-
cords showed Hardesty paid federal income
and self-employment taxes on $33,448 of
income from her consulting business, but
did not make enough money to be subject
to Portland or Multnomah County business
taxes.
Hardesty called Smith’s allegation,
which raised questions about whether she
owned back taxes for her business activ-
ities, “slinging mud,” while the Smith
campaign on Sunday again called for more
thorough tax records spanning the entire
17 years Hardesty has operated a consult-
ing businesses, as well as any government
contracts she acquired in that time.