Bill Clinton remembers 'my friend' Aretha Franklin
Former President Bill Clinton was among the many politicians who paid their final respects to gospel legend and “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin.
“We started out not as the president and first lady, the senator, secretary of state,” Clinton said in remarks he delivered Friday at Franklin’s funeral at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple. “We started out as Aretha groupies.”
The legendary singer and 18-time Grammy Award winner died on Aug. 16 at the age of 76 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Attended by 4,000 people, including dignitaries and politicians, her five-hour funeral was held at the same venue where, years ago, Franklin sang at Rosa Parks’s funeral.
Clinton, who was accompanied by his wife, Hillary, went on to recall his time with Franklin, first as a fan and then as a friend of the “woman who sung for America when Dr. King was killed.”
“She cared about broken people, people who were disappointed, people who didn’t succeed as much as she did,” said Clinton.
He also kept his speech light with jokes. “I hope God will forgive me,” said Clinton. “But I was so glad when I got here … when the casket was still open because I said, ‘I wonder what my friend has got on today. I want to see what the girl was carrying out.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, like many who spoke before Clinton, reminded the audience of the singer’s political life. “She was a feminist before feminism was popular,” said Sharpton. “She was a civil rights activist when it wasn’t popular … she was the soundtrack of the civil rights movement.”
Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama could not attend as Obama was scheduled to deliver a eulogy for Sen. John McCain at memorial service in Washington on Saturday. Sharpton read aloud a letter the couple sent to commemorate Franklin’s life.
“Aretha’s work reflected the very best of the American story,” Sharpton read. “In the example she set both as an artist and a citizen, Aretha embodied most revered virtues of forgiveness and reconciliation … and through her own voice, Aretha lifted those of millions, empowering and inspiring the vulnerable, the downtrodden, and everyone who may have just needed a little love.”
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder praised Franklin for her legacy.
“She made this country both more sensitive and more just,” Holder said. “In many ways not known to many, she was a part of the movement that set this nation free. And she made one song [‘Respect’] in particular her own, and it became one of the anthems for another movement that made women more equal.”
Though not included as a speaker, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., attended the service and was acknowledged by the master of ceremony, Bishop Charles Ellis, as a “congresswoman who has been attacked like never before” — likely in reference to regular insults directed at the congresswoman by President Trump.
No comments: