The passing of the incomparable Aretha Franklin has me searching through my old music in the hope of finding something, but so often I do not know for what I am searching until I find it.
I found it today after a bit of looking, or maybe the music found me. In either case, what I found is so much more than an extraordinary voice. It is the story of a man living in a world of barriers and cruelty because of his race, and a story of a man with courage and conviction, and the strength to fight for racial and social justice.
I hope you take a few minutes to listen to the beauty and grace in his voice, and I highly recommend his autobiography, Here I Stand. It is a moving story that after all the years since I held this book I remember how it made me feel.