The wondrous chorus that is America at its best has lost a powerful voice. Aretha Franklin could shake the heavens and our own complacency with a spirit that was forged in the church and later expanded into diverse musical genres and audiences around the globe. She was born into a country where the prospects of someone like her, an African American woman, were severely limited. But Franklin refused to be denied the destiny of her soul and in so doing she became the Queen of Soul. She tackled life with power and purpose by channeling heartache and strength.
In a time when we are desperately in need of strong voices to push back at the injustices of the present, in a time when we see the marginalized attacked, dehumanized, and dismissed, by the President of the United States, we will miss Franklin greatly. But we can hope that future generations will continue to be inspired and demand to be heard.