DETROIT — Aretha Franklin’s funeral may be over, but many of the speakers at her service Friday are calling on others to honor her legacy by demanding respect for black America.
Amid the gospel, personal reflections and grief on Friday were calls to register and turnout to vote in November and condemnation of President Donald Trump, who, upon her death, referred to Franklin as “someone who worked for me” — a comment that rankled many African-Americans.
In pointing out the long lines to pay tribute to Franklin this week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson lamented that the lines to vote often aren’t nearly as long.
A pair of speakers, Rev. Al Sharpton and Georgetown University sociologist Michael Eric Dyson used their speeches to directly attack Trump.
