Water was shut off at all Detroit public schools after traces of led and copper were found. The most recent round of testing conducted this year tested 24 schools, 16 came back with elevated levels of led, copper, or both. It is unclear exactly which schools were effected but Superintendent Nikolai P. Vitti is taking no […]
Aretha Franklin was laid to rest today in an epic, hours-long funeral that featured dynamic speakers and soul-stirring performances. It was a fitting end to the reign of the Queen of Soul who was known both for her civil rights activism and her amazing voice and legendary career. Only Aretha Franklin could have a funeral […]
DETROIT (AP) — Organizers of Aretha Franklin’s funeral insist it will be a service, not a show. Yet the Queen of Soul’s final send-off on Friday certainly will encompass many elements, emotions and grand entrances that were hallmarks of her more than six decades on sacred and secular stages. A lot of pink Cadillacs […]
Students will be returning to Detroit public schools next week with no water coming from the fountains after the most recent water quality tests conducted this year showed elevated levels of copper, lead, or both across some schools. According to the New York Times, the district has recorded higher levels of led or copper in […]
DETROIT (AP) — Aretha Franklin’s body has been transported from a Detroit museum that hosted two days of public viewings of the Queen of Soul, the next step in a journey leading up to her funeral on Friday. Workers carefully moved Franklin’s polished bronze casket from the rotunda of the Charles H. Wright Museum of […]
DETROIT (AP) — Mourners streamed in for a second day Wednesday to pay their respects to Aretha Franklin, who was dressed in a different outfit for her final public viewing, as if making a costume change during a show. Fans waited festively outside, then walked in a solemn, single-file line into the rotunda of […]
DETROIT (AP) — Mourners began pouring into Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History on Tuesday to pay their final respects to Aretha Franklin. WATCH THE LIVE STREAM OF THE VIEWING HERE. They approached her gold-plated casket to the sounds of her gospel recordings. She was in repose, dressed in red from head […]
DETROIT (AP) — Aretha Franklin had admirers the world over, but there’s no doubt the flame burned brightest in Detroit — the place she was raised and remained for most of her life. It’s difficult to separate the singer from the city, so you better think that her town is saying farewell in royal […]
A video that has gone viral on Facebook appears to show a Westland Police Officer tasing a man as he is holding his two-month-old baby. ABC reports that the incident happened on August 17 just outside of Detroit while neighbors were having a BBQ. Police arrived after someone called to report a fight, neighbor […]
While Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has been mourning the loss of the Queen of Soul, she has also been celebrating her life. Lee remembers Aretha Franklin as, “a quiet liberation fighter.” While she may not have been the face of the Civil Rights Movement, she was heavily involved. From offering to, and paying Angela Davis’ […]
Photo journalist, Linda Solomon was Aretha Franklin’s photographer and long time friend. Soloman photographed the queen for 40 years. Solomon had a very close relationship with says that Franklin was more than a great artist, she was, “the heart and soul of Detroit.” Franklin always said, “when I’m not on stage I’m the lady next door,” […]
“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.” — Former President Barack Obama I grew up in Detroit in the 1960s where Aretha Franklin, the undisputed “Queen of Soul,” was affectionately known as […]
