08/17/18 08/17/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! what you want baby i got what you need you know i got it all i'm asking is for a little respect hey, baby ♪

amy: aretha franklin, the queen of soul is dead at the age of 76. today we spend the hour looking back at her remarkable life from her groundbreaking music to her behind-the-scenes support for the civil rights movement. our guests will include professor angela davis. in 1970, franklin offered to post bail for angela davis who was jailed on trumped up charges. at the time, aretha franklin said -- "angela davis must go free. black people will be free." and we will hear more of aretha's stunning music. >> ♪ baby here i am of the railroad tracks come in on back 503 to me on the and it won't be long ♪

amy: we will also be joined by: a university professor farah jasmine griffin and mark anthony neal of duke university. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the vatican has broken its silence afafter a shocking pennsylvaniaia grand jury report revealed that more than 300 catholic priests sexually abused 1000 children, and p possiblyy ththousands more in pennsylvania over a span of seven decades as the church leadership covered up the abuse, transferring predator priests rather than firing them, and locking abuse complaints away in a secret archive. in a statement issued thursday, two days after the grand jury delivered its report, vatican spokesperson greg burke described the abuses as criminal and morally reprehensible. >> there are two words that can

express the feelings faced with these horrible crimes -- shame and sorrow. we treat seriously the work of the grand jury and the report it has produced. we condemn unequivocally the sexual abuse of minors. the abuses described in the report are criminal and morally reprehensible. the acts were betrayals of trust that rocked survivalists of their dignity and in many cases also their fate. the church must learn hard lessons from the past and there should be on ability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur. amy: the vatican told victims pope francis is on their side and promised action to root out this tragic horror. the statement came just months after the pope said he mishandled a vatican investigation into widespread sexual abuses by clergy in chile and less than two months

after a vatican court sentenced the church's former ambassador to washingngton, d.c.,., to five years in prison on a child pornography y charge.. in washington, d.c., secretary of state mike pompeo has formed a new group to coordinate iran policy and negotiate u.s.-iran relations since trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal. the newly formed iran action group will be led by senior policy adviser brian hook, who led the administration's unsuccessful attempt to negotiate changes to the nuclear deal before trump dumped it in may. the appointment comes as tensions are escalating between the u.s. and iran after the trump administration re-imposed economic sanctions against iran last weeeek. brian hook spoke thursday after his appointment. >> the iran regime has been a force for stability and violence. our new strategy addresses all manifestations of the iranian

threat and the new iran action group will be focused on implementing that strategy. amy: in massachusetts, the boston globe has stepped up security at its offices after a building manager reported several threatening phone calls on thursday, including a bomb threat. the threats came as president trump singled out the boston globe on twitter after the paper's editorial board led hundreds of media outlets in a coordinated series of ededitoris thursday condemning trump's attacks on the free press. trump tweeted -- "now the globe is in collusion with other papers on free press. prove it!" and -- "the fake news media is the opposition party. it is very bad for our great country." earlier this month, the outgoing united nations human rights commissioner criticized trump's attacks on the media, calling them "very close to incicitement to violence." foformer leaders of the u.s. national security establishment are blasting president trump's

decision to strip john brennan of his security clearance, calling it a clear attempt to stifle free speech of the president critics. the letter was signed by six former cia directors, five former cia deputy directors and a former director of national intelligence. it came as "the new york times" reported white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders sought to advance the security clearance story in order to change the topic away from news reports about trump's alleged use of a racial slur, the n-n-word. meanwhile, the former naval admiral who led the assassination raid on osama bin laden wrote in an open letter he woululd consider it anan honor f trump would revoke his security clearance. retired naval admiral william mcraven, who led the u.s. joint special operations command under president obama and now serves as chancellor of the university of texas, wrote -- "through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of

our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation. if you think for a moment that your mccarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken." the pentagon said thursday it will delay a military parade ordered by president trump until at least 2019. the announcement came just hours after news broke that the estimated cost of meeting trump's request has skyrocketed to $92 million. the parade, originally scheduled on washington, , d.c., veterans day, novevember 10, was to feature armored vehicles, soldiers in period uniforms, and flyovers by military aircraft. trump ordered the parade after he attended a bastille day celebration in france last year with french president emanuel macron. former white house aide omarosa

manigault newman has released another secretly reported audiotape saying it backs up her claim she was offered hush money by the trump campaign to buy her silence over trump's use of the n-word another racist remarks. in the tape-recorded last december, just days after omarosa left the white house, omarosamp is offering $15,000 a month in exchange for a small role in the trump campaign. folks it sounds a little like obviously there's something [indiscernible] positive, right. amy: the legendary singer and songwriter aretha franklin, celebrated across the world as the queen of soul, died thursday at her home in detroit at the age of 76. for decades, aretha franklin has

been celebrated as one of the greatest american singers of any genre, who helped give birth to soul, and redefined the american musical tradition. she was also a staunch supporter of the civil rights movement, going on a tour with dr. martin luther king, junior, and offering to post it for angela davis. we will look at the life and legacy of aretha franklin. our guests will include professor angela davis. in india, officials say the death toll from devastating monsoon rains has risen to at least 164 amid flooding in the southernrn state of kekerala tht have been dedescribed as the wot in nearly a century. forecasters warn heavy rains will continue to fall throughout the weekend. inhe philippines, cleanup crewews battled against a literl wave of garbage as floodingng brought plastic bottles and other refuse into the streets of the capital l manila thursday, following heheavy rainnd

flooding last weekend. meanwhile, in china, more than 50,000 people evacuated shanghai as typhoon rumbia made landfall frfriday, bringing p powerful ws and flooding. it's the 18th typhoon to affect china this year. the extreme weather comes as 2018 is on track to be one of the four hottest years on record, with greenhouse gas emissions driving up global temperatures. back in n the united states, federal court in montana has ruled that the company hoping to build the keystone xl pipeline must conduct further environmental reviews before proceeding with construction. the ruling is the first major victory for environmentalists opposed to the pipeline since regulators approved an alternative path for the pipeline last november. the e keystonene xl pipeline wod carry oil from canada's tar sands region in alberta to refineries as far away as the gulf of mexico.

in a statement, tom goldtooth of the indigenous environmental network welcomed the ruling, saying -- "the dirty tar sands crude oil that kxl would transport requires far more energy to process than other sources of petroleum, and its extraction has already destroyed hundreds of square miles of boreal forests and wetlands in alberta. we need to keep our fossil fuels in the ground and shut down extraction of highly polluting tar sands at their source." a federal judge has blocked the trump administration's rollback of obama-era water protections. thursday's ruling by a district court judge in south carolina effectively reinstates the clean water rule, whose implementatitn was delayed by the environmental protection agency last june. the clean water rule sets drinking water safeguards, while offering federal protection to

wetlands and thousands of streams that flow into larger rivers and lakes. 1400 workers at google have signed a letter protesting the company's plans to launch a service in china that will allow chinese censors to block search terms about human rights, democracy, religion, and peaceful protest. "the new york times" reports says it raises urgent, moral, and ethical issues. earlier this month, the intercept reported google's project, code-named dragonfly, was launched in the spring of last year and accelerated after google's ceo met with a top chinese government offfficial lt december. in argentina, a 34 year-old woman has died after attempting to induce a miscarriage. it's the first reported death from an outlawed, unsafe abortion since argentina's senate rejected legislation to legalize abortion last week.

the decision dealt a blow to women's health and reproductive rights. the powerful catholic church had lobbied heavily against legalizing abortion. currently, abortion in argentina is banned except in cases of rape or when the mother's life is at risk. dozens of argentine women die every year as a result of unsafe, illegal abortions. in louisiana, the fbi says it will assist local police in an investigation after an african-american mayoral candidate in shreveport was threatened with lynching if he did not drop out of the race. steven jackskson says someone placed an envelope containing a threatening note at his home, reading "leave our statue & property alone & get out of the n-word," along with a caricature of jackson with his head in a noose and the word, "rope" underneath. jackson is a county commissioner who was part of a 7-5 vote last october in favor of removing a

statue honoring confederate soldiers outside the caddo parish courthouse. and in immigration news, a group of children and teenagers who have been separated from their parents for years as a result of u.s. deportation policies are planning to travel to the border in texas in early septembeber to reunite with their deported parents and demand immigration authorities allow their parents to return to the united states. these are twtwo membmbers of the group, movement of migrant women and their families, guadalupe and miguel angel gonzalez, a brother and sister who are planning to travel to texas to reunite e with their mother, who was deported to mexico. >> all i am demanding is what i am given by right, that is to say my mother. we're going across the border in return with our family members because e we are demanding thehe authorities return them to us and they allow them to pass. we young people with rights

of papers who were born in the united states, we're goingng t o the border in texas to demand the retuturn our parents to us because it does not feel good to live without your mother or your father. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. tributes are pouring in from across the country and around the worlrld for aretha franklin, the queen of soul, who died thursday at her home in detroit at the age of 76. for decades, aretha franklin has been celebrated as one of the greatest american singers of any genre, who helped give birth to soul, and redefined the american musical tradition. in 1987, aretha franklin became the first woman to be inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. she held the record for the most songs on the billboard top 100 for 40 years. "rolling stone" ranked her the greatest singer of all time on its top 100 list, calling her "a gift from god." aretha franklin was born on

march 25, 1942. she was a child prodigy. and as young as four years old she was already considered a musical sensation. her father, reverend c.l. franklin, was a preacher in the new bethel baptist church in detroit, where aretha, still a child, became a star soloist, standing on a chair as she performed to the congregation. by her early 20's, aretha was appearing on national television, including the steve allen show where she performed "won't be long" in 1964. baby here i am by the railroad track waiting for my baby he's coming on back

back to me on the 503 and it won't be long no, it won't be long i get so lonesome since the man has been gone it isn't worth mentioning nothing going on that is why i know when the whistle blows it won't be long it won't bebe long ♪ amy: in 1967, aretha franklin signed with atlantic records and began releasing a series of landmark singles that transformed popular music. her 1967 cover of otis redding's "respect" became an international hit. >> ♪ what you want baby, i got it what you need

do you know i got it all i am asking is for a little respect when you get home hey, baby ain't gonna do you wrong while you are going because i don't want to all i'm asking is for a little respect when you come home baby when you get home aretha recorded "respect" on valentine's day 1967 and it soon became the soundtrack to the civil right movement. a year later she would sing at dr. martin luther king's funeral after his assassination in 1968. the reverend jesse jackson said aretha anonymously helped fund the civil writes movement for the civil rights movement for decades.

he said -- "when dr. king was alive, several times she helped us make payroll. aretha has always been a very socially conscious artist, an inspiration, not just an entertainer." in 1970, aretha franklin offered to post bail for angela davis, telling jet magazine -- "a"angela davis must go free. black people will be free. i'm going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because i believe in communism but because she's a black woman and she wants freedom for black people." later in the show, we will speak with professor davis herself about what aretha franklin's support meant to her. aretha would go on to sing at the inaugurations s of three presidents -- jimmy carter, bill clinton, and barack obama. inin a statement, barack and michelle obama said -- "for more than six decades since, every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine."

today we spend the hour looking at the extraordinary life and legacy of aretha franklin. after the break, we will begin with two guests. here in new york, farah jasmine griffin. and at duke university in north carolina, we will be joined by mark anthony neal. and then from mark's vineyard, angela davis will talk about what aretha franklin meant to her. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: aretha franklin. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. remember aretha franklin, the queen of soul, we're joined here by two guests. in new york, farah jasmine griffin joins us. she's a professor of english and comparative literature and african-american studies at columbia university. she's the author of a number of books, including "if you can't be free, be a mystery: in search of billie holiday" and "harlem nocturne: women artists and progressive politics in new york during world war ii." her latest article for the nation is headlined "aretha franklin -- musical genius, truth teller, freedom fifighter" and inin durham, north carolina, we're joined by mark anthony neal, chair of the department of african & african american studies where he is also the founding director of the center for arts, digital culture and entrepreneurship.

he is the host of the weekly webcast called left of black and he blogs at newblackman.blogspot.com. he is author of several books including "what the music said: black popular music and black public culture" and "songs in the keys of black life: a rhythm and blues nation." we're going to start there with mark anthony neal. your response e when you heard aretha franklin is dead. for me, i wasubt saddened. it was the end of an era in many ways, for myself personally, aretha franklin literally did to -- defined my childhood. i don't know a world without aretha being there. i was introduced to her at a young age by my mother who was an aretha franklin stand, for lack of a better way to describe it. was first to hear aretha franklin live on the apollo stage when it was five years old when she did t that legendary

one-week stand in 1971. amy: i said aretha franklin is dead, and maybe in body she is, but of course this music, her talent, this giant will continue to live on. farah jasmine griffin, you first heard that aretha franklin was in hospice care. >> yes, i heard from a dear friend that she was in hospice. it had not yet been announced. then within 24 hours, the news was all over social media. amy: talk about what she has met to you. >> oh, my goodness. like mark, i can't remember a time when i did not hear her voice. i think i probably heard it in the womb. aunts or so in love and enamored with her. she has meant the very best of american music and american culture. we always knew about her commitment and support to the popolitical struggles of black

americans for some image so why don't you talk about that. in the headline of your piece for the nation, one of the descriptions is freedom fighter. >> absolutely. people often talk about aretha coming up to the church, as many of our great singers do, and the church is a place certainly where she found her voice and learned her craft, but it is also the place where she was steeped in a kind of political culture. her father is in the tradition of the great prophetic black preachers. amy: reverend franklin. >> a very gifted order, but also an activist and confidant of martin luther king, for instance. so right alongside with her musical training, i think would have been that kind of political culture as well. then she sort of stepped out on her own, having always supported dr. king, supported rev. jessee jackson. but i think especially with that

public statement in support of angela davis, she sort of reticulated her own sort of test articulated her own sort of conviction. amy: i want to turn to an interview with arethaha franklin in 2015 with cnn up i guess don lemon. >> when you look at what happened with ferguson, police officers, do you think your song was the anthem to civil rights, the civil rights movement? a mantra for the civil rights movement. it was. >> do you feel we are moving fast enough? cooks i think we have come a long way. we have come to the forefront in many fields, entertainment, sports, and so on. but we still have a long way to go. >> i had earlier -- >> we've made great strides. >> you were on the front lines. >> i wasn't on the front lines, but i was with dr. king from church service to church service. i went out on a mini tour with

him when he first started. >> that is the line. >> well, i was behind after king and i was a very young grow. amy: that is aretha franklin with don lemon on cnn. mark anthony neal, could you expand on her civil rights activism? "i wasain, emphasizing behind the scenes, not on the front lines." the channels of being a black artist in the mainstream who was craving certain kind of mainstream success. had to be careful and delicate in the ways they engage the civil rights movement, which in many sectors of american society, was still very controversial. and like many of her peers from that time, one of the ways they offered support was to be a will to offer financial support in the background, to obviously be able to offer spiritual support. the fact she was willing to go on the road with dr. king was important and compelling in that particular moment will stop even though aretha franklin's music

was not overtly political, when you listen to "respect" and the way she stops to spell it out, it resonated in many wonderful ways of black folks who heard something more than simply a woman singing about the men that had done her wrong. we don't really get an overt political statement in her music until she does that amazing "young gifted and black album" or she covers in a simone and in many ways, it becomes her and him took knowledge the ways she was connected to this movement in a more overweight. we see her dress and were african style guard. point at the this peak of her career, at the peak of her powers, the peak of her maturity, and she can stand out on the lens and acknowledged she was a political force also. amy: you talk about 1972. can you tell us about her relationship with esther phillips and what happened at the grammys that year? >> you know, we hear a lot of things about the diva that

aretha for glenn was, and that was true as it was with anybody who had that kind of talent. but she is of her nomination in 1972 and in a category with mr. phillips.- esther esther phillips egg on the long road. in many ways, she is one of those artists to a created the space for aretha to fill. grammyetha wednesday award for this, she mixes incredible gesture by offering her award toesther phillips who acknowledged who she was in the field at her legacy, but also her impact as an artist. about want to ask you "natural woman" and her relationship with carol king. is a wonderful song. carol king was part of a generation of women who were performing and writing their own music, and not necessarily getting credit for being in the

singer, songwriter, producer's they were. we see the same case with other artists from that time. even aretha franklin, often the one behind her keyboard for her music, they were creating the music but not getting credit as producers. when aretha records "natural woman," is a coming together of geniuses, songwriter and performer, and becomes one of aretha franklin's most significant songs. on me, her use of the song her live album "amazing grace," or she does a conflated version of "you make me feel like a natural woman" and also, "you've lord friend" and "precious ," where carol king is being elevated as the quintessential american singer/songwriter after the release of "tapestry" and she takes thomas dorsey, most don't know at this time, and

puts them on the same plane, making an important political claim and cultural claim about significance of a figure like thomas dorsey at the same time that she is acknowledging this great woman singer/songwriter carole king. amy: he suggested aretha franklin was one of the few black artist at that time who understood the importance of controlling the narrative. explain what you mean. >> aretha was burned early in her career. she's on the cover of "time" in june 1968. it is really a story about the impact of soul music at this point in time, but they also do kind of a profile of her. there were elements that came out in the story that she was never comfortable with. she began to control the narrative in a way in which we think of her as being very private, and lots of artists do that, but also controlling the narrative at a time where she was, by far, the most well-known black woman in the world. there were significant states of

her being able to control her ststory the way that she didid. when david rich writeses her memoir, a rirights with her h hr memoir i i1999, of course the ever famouous falling out becaue there are parts ofof the stray that david r rich would like to share e and aretha franklin is t willining to go there at that point in time. , for instance, there is an amazing film of the concert "amazing grace" that aretha has never allowowed to be released. some folks might thinknk of that but it wasing a diva also making sure she controlled the way we would interpret her legacy. you see that up until heard ththat, the way that she carried her sickness over the last eight years in which folks suspected things but really did not know, and we saw that up until the end when she really control the narrative about how she would die and be remembered. , if farah jasmine griffin you could expand on this. you write "this is what we hear in a aretha's voice, truth, a

voice that contains the spiritual and the field holler, gospel shout jazz and improvisation. it is neither timid nor quoit, a grounded, transcendent and completely lacking in contradiction." >> yes. i think aretha is one of those artists, they come along every once in a while, and their artistry embodies traditions and history. and you can hear all of those great black musical forms born probably with their origins in west africa, but certainly in the united states. you could hear everyone of them in aretha's voice. bing the kind of artist she is, .he also saw something new there's history, but there's also something new, kind of era-defining sound. we make these false dichotomies between sexuality, sensuality, spirituality and aretha's voice just refuses those dichotomies. she refuses to see them as

contradiction. they are all part of one humanity, and we hear that in her voice as well. i love the fact that she has never -- is never sentimental, not coy. she is very articulate and forthright in the emotions thatt she expresses with her singing. amy: and her role in creating soul? >> she's a very important architect of soul, along with someone like ray charles, whwhos also anonother important figure, in takaking what t they have gon out of the church -- you u know, sam m cooke as well -- whwhat ty hahave gotten out of the church, that way of briringing the spirt down and moving people, really moving people took place of trtranscendenc then puttining tt inin popular mususic form. whereas black audiences unfamiliar with this, i think many mainstream audience members were not. shattering.y quite she is a primary ahihitect of

the music we have come to know as soul. amy: you met aretha franklin? >> i did. i have the opportunity to meet her. i should say the honor and privilege. i went to a concert at the invitation of a dear friend, michael eric dyson. and afterwards, or fessler dyson was a close friend of ms. franklin, so he took me backstage. my husband was there. i think the rev. jessee jackson was there. it was the night before whitney houston's funeral, which is why i remember is so well. she was dignified. i was struck by her humility. i was struck by her just very quiet, understated elegance. she was so well dressed, like a church mother, and just very welcoming and humble. to 1970.nt to go back aretha franklin offered to post bail for angela davis who was jailed on trumped up charges. i want to read from a jet

magazine article from december 3, 1970, headlined "aretha says she'll go angela's bond, if permitted" in which aretha franklin is quoted saying -- "my daddy says i don't know what i'm doing. well, i respect him, of course, by i'm going to stick by my beliefs. angela davis must go free. i'm going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because i believe in communism but because she's a black woman and she wants freedom for black people. i have the money. i got it from black people -- they made me financially able to have it -- and i want to use it in ways that will help our people." those the words of aretha franklin. she is talking about professor angela davis, who joins us now

from martha's vineyard. professor davis, angela, welcome to democracy now! >> thank you, amy. amy: can you talk about your thoughts on this day, the day after we learn of the death of aretha franklin and what she meant to you? >> of course this is a very sad day for people all over the country. aretetha was an i integral partf many people's lives, including my own. she madade anly because public statement indicating that she would pay my bail back in 1970, but perhaps i will say a few words about that to begin. hold aetha decided to press conference announcing that -- would pay up to $250,000

which in today's currency, would $1.55 millionout -- it was really a high point in the campaign. people believe that many who may have beenn ructant t to associate themselves with me because of my commumust afliations, probably joioined ththe camign as a a result of aretha's statement. -- whwhen i became eligible for bail, unfofortunately, aretha was outf the country. she was in thehe carbean. and during those d days prior to the emerergence of global capitatalism, money did not flow so easily across national borders. therefore --

from central california who agreed to put up his farm. but that was such a moving moment. theas a moment in which campmpaign for m my freedom achd a really populist status among peoplele in this country, proroy throughout theorldld as wellll. i ll b be forever grateful to aretha because i t think she inyed such an integral role -- of the success of the campaign. amy: you never actually met aretha franklin, did you? >> well, i feel as if i met her, but -- - i feel shshe is a partf my history. and her music was so much a part -- and continues to be so m muc

part of my own indivividual lif, as well l as my c collectivive . bubut i never actually met her n person. amy: can you explain the circumstances at that time, what was happening to you -- which also talks about who aretha franklin is, that she came out so strongly? and interestingly, she talked about the fact that she was thrown in the can. she was jailed in heher own home city of detroit. >> absololutely. as you pointed out, she said she had d already been jailed for disturbing the peacece. it seems as ifif she realized tt it might be necessary to disturb the peace of it further. bubut of course, the fact that i was a member of the communist party at that time made many people reluctant to offer public support because they thought

they might be associated with communismm, and thusus might be placing their own lives in jeopardy. i was charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. three capital charges. and at the time when aretha made this statement, i was actually not eligible for bail because capital offenses were not bail-able. as it turned out, the supreme court of california abolished, at least temporarily, the death penalty in california, which wast for a short while i eligible for bail. i am one of the few people who becauseually released within a few days, the supreme court amended its decicision b y indicating that alall could

loosely capital -- previously capital offenses would remain non-bailable. amy: and you are held not far from the studios of democracy now and california was seeking your extradition. your pending extradition to san rafael, california. > actual,l, yes. i had been in jail at the women's detention in greenwich at thate in new york, but time i had already been extradited. ail in n palo alto. it is a longng story. i had bebeen extradited toto man county and t then we got a chane of venue to santa clara, county. so when n i was actually releasd on bail, it was from the jail in palo alto.

amy: we're going to talk more about her involvement in the civil rights movement in front of the scenes and behind-the-scenes, and her just remarkable music and contribution as many have called her, as mark anthony neal franklin, arguably the greatest american singer of the 20th century. we're talking to angela davis, mark anthony neal at of african-americanan and africanan studieies at duke university, ad ofo farah jasmine griffin columbia university. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: aretha franklin, who died this week at the age of 76. the apollo marquis is emblazoned with her name "the queen of soul ." we are spending the hour on the life, the music, the genius, the activism of aretha franklin. she sang at three presidential inaugurations, the pre-inauguration of president carter, the inauguration of president clinton, and the inauguration of president obama. and that is where we are g going to go right now. is araretha is aretha frankling "my country'tis of thee" at president obama's first 2009guration january 20, [captioning made possible by democracy now!] the by country'tis of libertyd of

sing. i land where my father died p pridehe pilgrim's frfrom every mountainside freedom, freedom riring

let freedom let freedom ring let it ring now let freedomm ring ♪

amy: aretha franklin singing at the first inauguration of president barack obama, singing before the largest audience ever to witness a u.s. inauguration. this is demomocracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. our guests are angela davis. angegela, i just w want to ask , here she is singing "my country'tis of the, sweetland of liberty." this is the same woman who decades before was saying she would post bail for you, post bail for you as a black woman who must be stood up for. sweetland of liberty. your thoughts? c course [inaudible]

the meaning shehe imparted to te jusust sayingd trtransported us all to ananothr dimension. i see a utopiaian element in th. she is not necessarily saying ththis is the land of liberty, t that rather we should bee averaging a land of liberty. important, first of all, not to be literal. second of f all, to recognize tt tople can make contributions political struggles by raising the consciousness of communities, off collectives. producedreththa always

this kind of community through her singing. and i am particularly interested in the way she brought a feminist dimension before the emergence of black feminism to our consciousness with "respect" and with "sisters are doing it for themselves," and do it she performed with any lenox. contributions to the creation of a kind of your name shefreedom, a way in which helped to create communities. one must say this that it communities of struggle is so absolutely essential. amy: angela davis, you''re the author of "blues, legacy, and black feminism." how do you see aretha franklin's contributions toto music histor? how do you hear black f feminism

expressed inin her music? >> c certainly, , aretha'ss contributions are invaluabl frienddhony neal and my farah jasmine griffin at already popointed outut during our prog, was the bestt manifestation of a soul. musicat means that her helped to produce communities, helped to allow us to feel a part of something larger than ourselves. and in that sense, i think she follows in the tradition of the wonderful blues women of the 1920's and 1930's most of billy

holiday later on. our history over the past withoutis unimaginable the great voice of aretha franklin. franklin placed more than 100 singles on the billboard charts, including 17 top 10 pop singles, 20 number one r&b hits. she received 18 competitive grammys, as well as a lifetime achievement award in 1994, the first black woman to be inducted into the rock 'n roll hall of fafame. mamark anthony neal, you have sd that if she had not been black, she would have, oh, had the same stature as barbra streisand -- though many would say she certainlyy does, perhaps beyond, of course. but talk about why you make that comparison. >> you know, aretha and barbra

streisand were both at columbia records in the early 1960's will stop aretha axa covers records version of "people" the same year over streisand does. i think the record label did not understand what to do with aretha franklin. on the one hand, they did not know to do the gospel power that was so much a part of her music, but when i talk about the comparison to her and barbra streisand, barbra streisand could have a career where she could imagine herself as more than just recording artist in the studio. she could imagine her self on the broadway stage. she could imagine yourself making movies. aretha frank when did not have those kinds of opportunities open to her because in fact she was a black woman in the recording industry in that period of time. as someone is, the extent we've seen a beyonce over the last decade to do so many types of cultural work on various platforms is the full realization of the kinds of opportunities that aretha franklin helped create for generations of artists who came

after her. amy: the sigignificance of areta franklin being jailed in detroit -- you know that story, mark anthony neal? >> i do not. i was hearing it for the first time as we all just heard her a few minutes ago talk about it. but of course, there's a larger history of new bethel, which was greeted -- critical to the great march of freedom done in june 1963 when martin luther king first revealed his "i have a dream" speech, or at least an earlier version. i can imagine as he young person growing up in detroit, given what detroit was, that might have been many opportunities for aretha franklin to disturb the peace, if you will. amy: i i want to tururn to areta franklin talkiking on npr freseh air, one of her most famous songs, the sum we begin with "respect." ,>> in later times, it was picked up as a battle cry for the civil rights movement. but when i recorded it, it was

pretty much a male/female kind of thing. fromore in a general sense person-to-person. "i'm going to give you respect and i would like to have that respect back or i expect respect to b begin back." amy: letet's go back to areththa franklin singing "respect." what you want, baby i got it what you need you know i got it all i'm asking is for respect. when you get home gonna do you wrong for a littleg is

respect when you come home baby, when you get home i'm about to give you all of my money and alan asking in return, honey is to give me my propers when you get home yeah, baby when you get home ♪ amy: aretha franklin singing a live recording of "respect." ofa hospice care at the age 76 in detroit. angela davis, as you listen to her singing respect and this time in the year of trump -- era of trump, as a he talks about possibly gelling the only senior black white house aide , omarosa. your thoughts about what, right now, well, or the franklin would say or sing about this time?

> certainly, , this is a few things when we have to draw on the promises of ththe past. t thathe situation of exists as a consequence of the , whilen of donald trump he has indated he wants to move in a backwards direction, we have to remember -- you have to r remember what it wawas like myen aretha franklin saying " " country'tis of thee" in the first inauguration of barack obama. and i think m music allows us to remember those promises and to recognize that those promises can become agendas of struggle inin the present andnd the futu. aretha will forevever animate or

collective sense of desire e for change. and donald trump cannot do anything about that. amy: we're going to end it there. i want to thank you all so much for spending this day remembering aretha franklin. angegela davis, author, profess, an a activist at university of california, santa cruz. again, that headline "aretha says she will go angela's bond if permitted," offering to pay whether it is $100,000 or $250,000 to free angela davis. farah jasmine griffin, professor of english and comparative literature and african-american studies at columbia university. among her books "if you can't be , free, be a mystery: in search of billy holiday." mark anthony neal, duke university professor, author of many books.

that does it for our show. as we go out with "respect," democracy now! has a job opening for a broadcast engineer here in new york city. find out more at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or >m

[woman singing in russian] sami yaffa: a city of 12 million sououls, moscow is the stewpot of history. the original recipe comes from t t czars, bubut over the yearsrs, the dish has been mimixed with despotism, marinind in bolshevism, and seasoned with the e salt of e cocold war and the pepper of propaganda. but what's cooking here these dadays? [woman continues singing] i'm sami yaffa, and i'm a rock