My earliest two memories of the late Queen of Soul are of hearing my parents regularly play her cover of “Spanish Harlem” in the car, and of her striking appearance in Blues Brothers. I instantly knew two things about her: one, she lived her life unapologetically – you can hear it in the way she sings each note, and two, like so many of the strong Black women in my own life, she didn’t take any smack from anyone.

Aretha Franklin will always be one of the greatest singers and musicians to have ever lived. She’s the only person I can think of whose cover songs so thoroughly outperformed the originals that we hardly remember that they are indeed covers. However, that she could sing was a mere convenience when considering her impact on the contemporary world. How she used her voice is the global ministry we celebrate today.

Through her relationships with Mahalia Jackson and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., she helped to shape the Civil Rights Movement. She gave voice to the common experiences of Black women for essentially the first time in a commercial market – the way they live, love, fear, and persist. She consistently sang down patriarchal dominance and violence. Being among the most charted, rewarded, and recognized female musicians of all time, she has established a pathway toward success for all femme artists of Color that follow her. Without her, there would have been no Whitney Houston. Without her, there would be no Beyoncé. I wonder who would then be the role models for our youngest femmes of Color today… Through her final years, she demonstratively championed body-positivity and body liberation, and was a steadfast and outspoken queer ally and advocate for LGBTQ rights.

Even through whatever controversy of the day, Ms. Franklin always exemplified strength, self-respect, dignity, and a blessed intolerance of bull. We are all so grateful for her life and legacy.

“Ain’t no way for me to give you all you need if you won’t let me give you all of me.”