Aretha Franklin was laid to rest yesterday, after a star-studded send-off for a lady who has been larger than life for years.
She was especially revered in Detroit – Out for dinner at the 1940 Chop House one Saturday night I saw her cruise through the dining room with her entourage in tow, a path cleared, heads turned, every eye on her!
The send-off was unrestrained. Aretha was larger than life in death too – gold plated bronze casket, dozens of pastel roses, 100 pink Cadillacs, the deceased dressed to the nines, including stiletto heels to match her dress – four costume changes, starting with a red dress and shoes. Her body arrived at the church early Friday in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse. She wore a shimmering gold dress, with sequined heels.
I won’t talk about all of the dignitaries who sang, and talked, and mourned, but I would like to talk about the Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. of Salem Baptist Church in Atlanta, and some of the words he spoke during his eulogy. As ABC News reported,
[He] was excoriated on Twitter and elsewhere for misogyny, bigotry and the perpetuation of false science on race. He also blamed integration and the civil rights movement for ripping the heart out of black micro-economies that once relied on black-owned small businesses such as grocery stores, hotels and banks.
As he wended his way through the need for more African Americans to return to church and more men to return to their families, the heat turned up online, with younger people declaring rhetoric such as that of Williams is why they left their churches to begin with.
Reverend Williams is a brave man. It is unpopular today to speak the truth out loud. People don’t want to hear the truth.
Here is an excerpt:
It’s time to turn black America around…
Nobody can do anything with our own children.
The school teachers can’t handle our children.
The pastor at the church can’t handle our children.
The police in the streets can’t handle our children.It’s time to turn America around.
Whatever way the home goes, is the way the world goes.
As the home goes, so goes the street.
As the street goes, so goes the neighborhood.
As the neighborhood goes, so goes the city.
As the city goes, so goes the state.
As the state goes, so goes the nation.
As the nation goes, so goes the world.
I saw this comment on the video, and it is oh so true:
An appropriate message not just for Black America, the diaspora of all our people around the world need to take heed of what was said during the funeral – a few will be changed, but most won’t and do not care to swallow the “medicinal word” offered up for healing or restoration.
The uncomfortable truth has no perfect fitting time for man nor woman. Saints of God, are not called to be wo/men pleasers. There needs to be more examples of men and women in pastoral roles to lead by better example – respect to the Bishop for not satisfying or tickling the ears of those who wanted their flesh boosted; their egos massaged.
WE, all have to do what we can while almighty God gives us the strength (as Believers) to make a change that helps others, which produces progress for change within our communities. Remember: FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD, WORKS WITHOUT L.O.V.E. is pointless too.
I read that Aretha asked that this man of God speak at her funeral. Perhaps she was wiser than any of us knew, and really ready for her next big adventure.
Stella's Place 
Did I read that right? Four changes of clothes, for her?
I imagine she knew exactly what kind of speech he would give.
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You read it correctly. Four changes of clothes for the corpse.
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I hate changing clothes. I want to be cremated.
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You’re funny! My mom asked to be dressed in clothing appropriate for sleep. She was buried in a pink silk wrapper with a matching nightie underneath.
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My brother was cremated in his favorite shorts, Hawaian shirt, and sandals.
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I have a friend who is 87, the last time I was at her house she showed me the outfits that she wanted to be buried in one if she dies in the Spring, one for Summer and a multi-purpose one for Autumn/Winter.
She told me if her daughter doesn’t put her in the right clothes that she wanted someone to set her straight! 🙂
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Not my cup of tea.
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I guess I just don’t care for black sining. 😦
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“singing”
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Actually works either way.
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How about The Lord’s Prayer on the harmonica? Listen to just the first 2-1/2 min of this. You may be pleased, methinks (except for the very last couple three notes).
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I do like this.
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By the way, she’s buried less than a mile from my house, in Woodlawn Cemetery. So is Rosa Parks.
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PS: Rosa Parks’s funeral was held at the same church, and used the same route to the cemetery. Her hearse ran out of gas at one point and had to be pushed. Aretha had the same hearse.
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Oh, for some reason I thought it was going to be Woodmere where lots of my previous generation relations are buried…
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I was looking at a list of well-known persons who are buried at Woodlawn, and found Edgar Guest. I didn’t know that!
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Guest was born in England, but came to Detroit and worked for the Free Press. One of his poems:
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This is my favorite Aretha (1967):
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She had class, oozing from every pore! Love it!
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Her National Anthem before the Lions football game for Thanksgiving 2017 (I think) actually moved me to tears it was so beautiful…
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2016 (I looked it up):
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Great Thanks!
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Makes me think of the black ministers of unknown education who milk their congregations like cash cows. Their charges are right on the edge of check-to-check but the Big Brother is driving a shiny new expensive car, alivin’ in a big house and he and his First Sister are dressed to the nines.
Then there was, and I’ve posted it before, my police captain who was in charge of a particularly crime-ridden area of NOLA. He instituted a program that targeted hi-crime areas, especially bars and ‘social clubs’ with nasty records. He’d have his officers roust black men congregated outside of these bars or grouped on corners very late at night thru early morning, doing legal Terry stops – after all, here are young men hanging around in known hi-crime areas between midnight and dawn.
His officers took down numerous felons wanted on warrants, made numerous arrests for felons or prohibited person carrying firearms and took many, many illegal guns off of the streets. The crime rates fell. His reward? He was reassigned as bar owners and MINISTERS complained his officers were harassing innocent young black men without probable cause. He was reassigned, crime rate went back up and so goes the politics of ‘religion’.
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