Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 16, 2018Watching Aretha Franklin perform at the White House, and on so many other occasions, made time stand still.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) August 16, 2018****
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If you read one thing today, it should be this 2016 David Remnick profile of Aretha Franklin. It's phenomenal.
newyorker.com/magazine/2016/…
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Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) August 16, 2018This is one of my favorite performances by Aretha Franklin. She was only 22 here. We’ve lost a treasure. 💔
https://t.co/tETO6sG1As
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Natasha W.E.B. Lookin’ Bois Oladokun 🌚🦗 (@NatashaOladokun) August 16, 2018****
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In 1993 NY Post columnist Liz Smith wrote: "[Aretha Franklin] must know she’s too bosomy to wear such clothing, but… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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Letters of Note (@LettersOfNote) August 16, 2018let’s also never forget THIS aretha moment...
“great gowns, beautiful gowns...” 😭😂 https://t.co/bCY5XeW9Mf
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Andrew Bunton (@andrewbunton) August 16, 2018****
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Aretha Franklin singing Lift Ev’ry Voice - proving that she was already an angel, even when she was among us. youtu.be/8QK4p22LHtw
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Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) August 16, 2018****
Rest in power, Aretha. You were not only the Queen of Soul, but a warrior, a survivor, an icon, and a protector. Yo… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) August 16, 2018
The Obama Diary 
R.I.P. Ms Franklin. You have touched millions of lives.
From the link that JER shared above. Thanks, JER.
// ….
No performer stood closer to the core of Obama’s love of music, an in turn his love of America, than Aretha Franklin. When New Yorker editor David Remnick emailed Obama after her performance at the Kennedy Center Honors later that year, the president didn’t hold back in his response:
“Nobody embodies more fully the connection between the African-American spiritual, the blues, R. & B., rock and roll — the way that hardship and sorrow were transformed into something full of beauty and vitality and hope. American history wells up when Aretha sings. That’s why, when she sits down at a piano and sings ‘A Natural Woman,’ she can move me to tears — the same way that Ray Charles’s version of ‘America the Beautiful’ will always be in my view the most patriotic piece of music ever performed — because it captures the fullness of the American experience, the view from the bottom as well as the top, the good and the bad, and the possibility of synthesis, reconciliation, transcendence.”
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https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/aretha-franklin-barack-obama-710407/
Oops… This is above.
His constant eloquence in every situation is a balm to my soul.
Co-sign!
That’s nice from my President and First Lady.
Fabulous, both.
Please read the New Yorker article, its a small window into who Miss Franklin was (is). The very last sentence sums it up for me,
“I don’t care what they say about Aretha,” Billy Preston, who died in 2006, once said. “She can be hiding out in her house in Detroit for years. She can go decades without taking a plane or flying off to Europe. She can cancel half her gigs and infuriate every producer and promoter in the country. She can sing all kinds of jive-ass songs that are beneath her. She can go into her diva act and turn off the world. But on any given night, when that lady sits down at the piano and gets her body and soul all over some righteous song, she’ll scare the shit out of you. And you’ll know—you’ll swear—that she’s still the best fuckin’ singer this fucked-up country has ever produced.” ♦
You mentioned Billy Preston … now ya got me crying again! 🙂
I loved Billy Preston, “circles”, “outta space”, and “nothin’ from nothin'”
Me, too!
✨✨✨
What a beautiful tribute to one of America’s greatest treasures. I’m just heartbroken by our loss.
Dudette, love that you’re our resident space nerd!!
I love that you love that! 😁
A star gets an asteroid names for her! I did not know that and think it[‘s wonderful. RIP, Queen.
Isn’t that the coolest thing?
This is so beautiful, so thoughtful and magnificent.
Rest in peace Ms. Aretha Franklin, deepest sympathy to your family. Your rich velvet voice always sends shivers down my spine, mesmerizes me.
🌹🌹💖❤💕🌹🌹
RIP 🎶🎶💋 Queen of Soul: Lady Ms. Aretha L. Franklin. What a Voice, What a Humanitarian, What a Human Being.
Amen! Amen! And AMEN!
Yep, I can hear Billy Preston saying it too…LOL.
Yep 😆
I know Dudette is our TOD VJ.
One more and I’m done.
Loved Aretha.
Girl, I hold no patents here. Play on! Play on!
Come on ride….!
Mavis Staples used to bring it from a place few people could.
Yes she did!
I remember coming home from elementary school and my mother playing The Staple Sisters and Gladys Knight. Let me tell you something, their voices made you feel it down in your soul.
Deeeeep down in ya gut!
Can’t have a Home Going without Patty LaBelle y’all…………
True dat!
Only thing is Re and Patti weren’t exactly tight, if ya know what I mean.
didn’t know that 😦
Yeh, Annie could be there too!
Must have Patti singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
Here you go sweetie…at the WH, the Obama WH.
She brings me to my knees – every time
Thanks jojo 😘
… and she MUST kick off the shoes! 😀
Fo’ Sho’
👠👠
Yeh, I forgot they ain’t exactly Buds.
Awe…too bad. That New Yorker Article talked about how Re did not trust people once they showed her who they were…as Maya Angelo would say, “once people show you who they are, believe them”.
Yep
These recommendations are meet and/or exceed the requisite skill level for SANGIN’ (I said “SANGIN”) and therefore meet my approval!
😀 😀 😀
No doubt!
Stevie, goes without saying. CC Winans and Oleta would be heavenly!
Okay, yeh. I see it!
Definitely!
For sure!
!!!!!!!
JILL. SCOTT.
Yawp! Ceiling tiles would fly!
Thank you, Nerdy, so much for posting this incredible thread honoring Aretha Franklin.
May she rest in peace, and my deepest sympathy to her family and friends.
The Queen singing with Smokey…
I am convinced the certain singers bring their voices from places that can’t be produced in a studio or anywhere else. When they mention soul music, that music comes from a living a life that has uncommon experiences. The Staple Sisters singing “I’ll Take You There” and “Let’s Do it Again” are songs that come from living uncommon lives.
RIP. We have lost our voice.
Dudette, Bless you and keep the posts coming. I love you, girl.
Bless you too, TNMtngirl! 😘
I think this song needs to be our anthem. I had forgotten this one.
Beautifully said!!
What a life she led.
Remembering Aretha Franklin and how she touched our souls through music. Rest in peace, our Queen.
…and a couple of my favorite Aretha gospels….
I’ve crying all day!
Thank you for putting together this tribute, Nerdy. The Queen’s songs were the soundtrack of much of my life.
RIP, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul and our hearts. “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Wish i could get there to see it
ROCK…STEADY!
Don’t sit in from of the Queen and try to lie! 😀
Damn Fox News. Could they suck more? [I know the answer]
Ava!
Awwww!
Auntie!
Speaking of Auntie’s, y’all go see Crazy Rich Asians this weekend! You’ll love it! I’m gonna see it a couple more times. It’s fun & funny, beautifully shot, beautiful vistas, beautiful food, beautiful actors. Everything you want in a non-super-hero rom/com. 😆
Thanks Dudette, I hear it is getting rave reviews.
Go see Black Kkklansman too! It’s really important. There are some funny moments in it too, believe it or not. John David Washington was outstanding and Adam Driver brushed Kylo Ren out of my head when I saw him in this. Well done to both of them. Harry Belfonte, however, was in it for just like 5 minutes and he stole the movie IMHO. Anyway, the end will nail you to your chair. Go see it. I’m telling you. It won top prize at Cannes for a reason.
Dudette, I seem to telepathically feel you on this one…..but as usual, I was a tad too late. Pardon me for the duplication🤦♀️😉
No pardon necessary Sis. Everything Aretha does is worth repeating over and over everyday in every way.
Yup.
Yup, part deux! 😀
Why I don’t pay what Trump said any attention, because that is the same man who call another black woman a DOG.
Yup
Alright NYC!
Even the way trump says ” … is dead.”
If he were there after the Crucifixion, he’d tweet, “Jesus is dead. His apostles will be serving food at the temple later. BYOB. His garments will go on sale at the thrift shop this Saturday. I’m charging half price for rooms at my hotel for the next two nights. No one with a security clearance need apply.”
ABSOLUTELY NO HUMAN COMPASSION FOR ANYONE. I KNOW THAT MEANS EVEN HIS FAMILY MEMBERS.
Please forgive me for inserting Jesus in such a way in this, but I AM CRAZED ABOUT THIS NON-HUMAN.
Hahaha, this made me laugh out loud. Thanks JB. Always lurking, I am !!
Hi, y’all. Glad to see you. And thanks!
you know that we are all feeling sad about the Queen of Soul …. but i couldn’t help but laugh out loud after reading your thoughts about what the evil one would have tweet at the crucifixion …. yes, I could see that empathy-deficient imbecile doing that …
thanks a lot for the laugh
ps, the catholic girl in me feels like she needs to apologize or else Sister Cephas will call me in and ask me to say the rosary as part of my repentance
I’m an ol’ Catholic girl, too, and the guilt’s killin’ me! My only question is: only ONE rosary? Ha. Glad you laughed (was hoping I didn’t offend anybody!).
Nod to Bobfr! I like how Tommy put this! 🙂
I need air! See y’all later!
From Anita Baker’s TL.
Just watched this movie. One of my favorites,. She takes over the scene.
When people on a stage ask Re to sign she sings….there’s none of this you sing this part, I sing this part….she sings it ALLLLL. That video of her singing happy birthday to Taylor Swift, she sang the whole song, solo. No need for those off-key women singing Re’s signature song.
What a glorious photo of her … and such a nice tribute from Sir Paul.
Right? I’d never seen that one before. It’s beautiful.
Truly!
Here’s one from the other remaining member of the Beatles:
Love Bonnie Raitt!
Had to kick this Bonnie song in, which is my favorite of hers:
First video was supposed to be Bonnie Raitt, Aretha Franklin, and Gloria Estefan, singing Natural Woman. Sorry.
I don’t know why, but when I see photos of Aretha as a young woman, I’m reminded of Sasha. Something about her face.
And will have a sweet fur-baby dog gracing the White House. I defy you to find a picture of prez clownstick with a dog. It’s as likely as seeing a vampire on a sunny afternoon.
(Apparently that fool hates dogs. Probably the real truth is dogs hate him.)
I’ll add another to yours:
– And is friends with Barack Obama!
Apparently until 2019 …
G’Nite TODbots
G’Nite, Nena!
Can’t wait to hear more about this:
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2018/08/16/the-american-experience/
Thank you Nerdy girl.. Legend
These fabulous protesters are still outside of the White House, which they call the Kremlin Annex:
Beautiful!!
In other words, Georgia, which has been slowly shifting purple for some time, may be in danger of a Virginia-style blue wave that will push Republicans out of power and they know it. Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State are all up for grabs. As statewide offices, gerrymandering doesn’t work and those positions are vital to the GOP in 2020 to keep their gerrymandered maps and rigged elections. The only solution is to physically stop black people from voting by taking away their access to voting machines. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll almost certainly push through a set of laws stripping the executive branch of its powers the way Republicans did in North Carolina.