Khan. Shirley caesar had the spirit within her from that first word. Listening to the former president , bill clinton, saying he was first a groupie and making note, she has sung for america. Indeed she has. Reporter oh, yeah, she is an american sweetheart, a national treasure. There is a lot of love in this house, as they say. You can feel it. You can feel just how Aretha Franklin touched so many people, let alone detroit. They claim her as their, you know, native daughter. She was born in memphis, but she and the family eventually moved here to detroit. This would be home. What we have seen today is a real tribute, a serious home going for the queen of soul. As you mention, faith hill was among those right out of the gate who brought the house down. It was faith hill who was invited by Aretha Franklin to join her on her album that she coproduced. She spoke so kindly of faith hill after the fact saying she is fabulous, simply fabulous and really nice. So, it was a beautiful tribute that she would be invited here by the family to be part of the tribute. You mentioned, you know, shirley caesar, she brought it home. I talked to her earlier. She said she was like her sister. They performed together as teenage girls here in detroit. While it saddened her, her heart was heavy. You could see it in her eyes when i was talking to her, how difficult this day would be. At the same time, she said she owed it to her friend, to Aretha Franklin to be here and part of the tribute. I spoke with former Detroit Pistons nba star, isaiah thomas. Many wonder, huh . How did they become friends . He told a beautiful story of how Aretha Franklin reached out to him. He was in his early 20s. She took him and invited him over to dinner. Everyone talks about how she loved to cook and how she really invited him into her world. They became wonderful, great friends. He would actually escort her to the kennedy honors in washington years ago. He would travel abroad with her. When i talked with him in florida, he was about to embark on a european trip with Aretha Franklin and clyde davis. Thats how tight they became. Then you heard from former president , bill clinton, who said, as you put it, i was a groupie. So much so that by the time he became elected as president , he reached out to her. She was part of his inauguration. Over 30 years, aretha was part of three president ial inaugurations and invited back again, many times over to the white house. It was beautiful how mr. Clinton talked about how he described what embodied here. She lived with courage, not without fears, but overcoming her fears. She lived with faith, overcoming her failures. Then he also talked about her generosity, how she would take the time to express care for other people, people who others may not think are that important. In her autobiography, she would write about gospel and soul singers that most people wouldnt know of and how she made other people feel. That really was a calling card for her. I spoke with a ghost writer of her first biography. He said she was a very guarded person, actually. It spoke to her independence from a very early age. That song respect says so much about her. Natural woman, written by carol king says so much about Aretha Franklin. The impressions and imprints she made not just on gospel music, all genres of music, Civil Rights Movement, womens rights. She did it all. They are celebrating her in that kind of tapestry today, in this church. The varied audience, the varied lineup of those we have heard from on the spoken word. Her best friend, smokey robinson, telling a beautiful story about how he was 8 years old going to the la sal street house of Aretha Franklin to see the pastor, father franklin, cl franklin and he heard this music and a little voice. To open the door to find out it was a 4yearold Aretha Franklin who sang like an angel. From that point on, they would have this beautiful, decades long, lifelong relationship, sometimes collaborating on music. This is a tribute, indeed. It is a home going unlike most that people have seen. This also happens to be a place, you know, of worship for so many. There is spirituality here. You see it throughout the city of detroit. Brooke . Here she is. Fred, thank you so much. The chaka khan. Good evening. Afternoon. Anybody ask you where im going where im going, soon if you want to know where im going, yeah where im going real soon im going up yonder im going up yonder going up yonder im going up yonder to be with my lord im going up yonder going up yonder im going up yonder going up yonder im going up yonder to be with my lord i can take the pain heart ache they bring comfort of knowing ill be soon gone, yeah gonna give me grace until i see my savior facetoface im going up yonder going up yonder im going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder to be with my lord did you hear me im going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder to be with my lord if you want to know where im going well, im going, yeah, soon god gives me grace out of this grace, until i see my savior facetoface im going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder to be with my lord im going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder to see my lord going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder yeah, going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder oh, going, did you hear me when i said going up up yonder did you hear me, say im going up yonder up yonder yeah, im going up to yonder going up yonder going up yonder oh, going up, going up yonder going up yonder up, going up yonder up, going on up, up up yonder up, going up yonder up, going yonder up, going yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder im going up to see my lord yeah, im going up yonder going up yonder im going up yonder going up yonder going up yonder, to see you in my dream to be with my lord going up yonder yeah, yeah, yeah, yes i am, im going hallelujah. Up, going up yonder yeah, up, going up yonder yeah, going up yeah, up, up, up snoes up chaka khan, ladies and gentlemen. Lets talk about what we just saw, whose coming up honoring the life, the extraordinary woman, Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul. As we watch that performance, you know, chaka khan has been through some things. Yeah. Aretha was almost like an auntie . Like an auntie. Theres few people on your level that you can talk to. Cha ka struggled with drugs in the past. Aretha was always there for her. She was a person to go to that didnt judge you. She crossed over into so many genres, secular, gospel, opera, country. She paved the way for women in the industry, getting publishing rights, getting paid up front. She was the trail blazer. Shes still hold on, hold on. Shes not done . Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah what did you say . She came back. We were talking about, you know, you think of chaka khan and think of other women. This circle of women who, maybe younger women singing, who have extraordinary careers in and of themselves, the circle is shrinking. The elders who you really respect that you can go to when things arent so wonderful. When you are having a hard time, who can bring you home and you can listen to them. This is a very rare to get to the place of a whitney or mariah carey. Who would you go to . Theres patty, gladys. Theres something about Aretha Franklin that statesmen respected, that people all over the world respected in a way that is kind of unparalleled. Theres a loss, i think, in the hierarchy of divadom. Yes. As we were talking before, theres something about being a diva and having that motherly, auntie quality that she loves and cares. Lets listen in. She would ask me, what you gonna sing . I said, well, im going to sing something soft. You know, have you ever heard the clark sisters . Have mercy. This celebration here tonight, ooh. I should have brought the band here. Maybe we shouting, something. All right. She would always talk about clark, shirley caesar, all the time. 60 years. 60 years. Loved you. She would talk about karen so much and i dont think karen knows this. Say, we gonna do a record together. Were going to do the next record together. I would try to suggest songs. Let me sing. Oh, why should i discourage and why, why does the shadows all come down why does my heart feel so lonely so lonely, lonely for heaven when jesus is my fortune oh, yeah, oh a constant, constant friend constant friend is he oh, yeah surely his eyes is on the sparrow, sparrow and i know he watches, watches me and i sing, i sing because you know im happy oh, happy and i sing, sing because im free, free, free his eyes are on, on the sparrow, oh, sparrow and i know, i know, i know, i know, he watches me he watches me, oh, oh, his eyes is on the sparrow, sparrow and i know, i know, i know, i know i know he watches me he watches, oh, yeah [ applause ] thank you. I love you. Put your hands together here. Miss franklin, when she decided to move back to detroit, she moved back in the early 90s on the Detroit Golf Club course. Her home, which still stands is four doors down from my dads house, our family home. Miss franklin, when she was giving her holiday parties at that home in detroit, she would invite my dad to come down and to play a prayer that everything would go all right. She would give him a carry out and send him back home, up the block. Reverend Jesse Jackson got to stay for the whole party. I told him that the other day, she said somebody had to make sure everybody was at home. He has been a champion for civil rights down through the years. We know his health is not what it used to be. But, for all he has done through the years, sometimes working and not receiving anything for it, standing on the front line and standing on that wall, i think we should all stand and receive this giant of a warrior for the urban community, for those who cannot speak for themselves, receive the reverend Jesse Jackson sr. He will be followed by dr. William j. Barber ii. Pray. This is celebration, but not a party. Aretha is not lost. We know where she is. Prayer and thanksgiving. God blessed us to witness a powerful expression of his goodness today. Aretha was here 60 years. Bow your heads in prayer. Set that petition, dear god, you know our ways. Make us better, never bitter. Move through to the journey. Thank you for reverend frankton, thank you for aretha, irma, carolyn, cecil. The joy of the gifts, lessons they have learned and lessons they have shared. Leave this place today better off than when we came. We fall down, we get back up again. The ground is no place for champions, so we rise to higher heights. Amen. Amen. I was asked by the family to give some personal reflections. I have known aretha almost 60 years. A lot of reflecting. I want sabrina to stand again. Months of decline and going down the hill, the one that put all this together has been sabrina. Give her a big hand, would you please . [ applause ] i visit her at least once a month. Every time i was there, by the door was a body guard. Stand again. Give him a big hand. Cousin brenda. Brenda. Another big hand. Give willie a big hand. Standup will. Hes been a trooper. I want to thank the funeral home. Aretha was very sick toward the end. I was suspecting we should not open the body. But this funeral home, they have done a tremendous job. Big hand for Oneil Swanson and his family. Big hand for Oneil Swanson and his family. [ applause ] last, we cant thank her enough, a hand for maxine waters. Stand, please. Three of my children are here because this is a family affair. My son, Jesse Jackson, jr. Dr. Jackie jackson. It is a holy privilege to stand before you today, painful to stand before aretha. Our celebration. I want to honor the familys wishes and keep my remarks as brief as i can, but it is about reflections. I want to give room for reverend williams, one of the most profound preachers of our time, the journal was conducted by reverend williams and maintains authority in the family. The next phase of the phenomenal Aretha Franklin. Theres much to be said and done, built on this legacy that is not appropriate to say today. Such calls another unplanned family reunion. We wouldnt be here if aretha was not here today. We give death too much power. We should call together a meeting like this and share. I watch the long lines at the museum, rosa parks, long lines for aretha and long lines today. We have long lines to celebrate death and short lines for voting. We lost michigan by 11,000 votes. 100,000 in detroit unregistered. Long lines at the death of the icons, short lines, something is missing. To many of us from the deep south, before internet and before the nightly tv shows, before rosa parks, there was jet magazine, National Black newspapers and national tennessee. Every sunday night, 11 00, nashville put on an hour of cl franklin. He was our hero. Traditional sermons. Prodigal son, in the conflict. He said, im not going to preach, im going to introduce my daughter, she can sing. Its not just a dads opinion, she can sing. Her singing never grew old. Reverend kyles, on the way home to visit, he was killed. He was doing a revival at that time. Aretha was on the strand. A beautiful home of the soul. Built as jesus on high where we never shall die, it will never grow old. It was real dark stars. They shine the most clearly. That night, a star was born, somewhere between nashville and eternity, we heard a voice from heaven, 14 years old. Aretha was our queen, she belonged and belongs to us. She was blessed to have the powerful gift of singing, perhaps the most remarkable voice that the world has ever heard. They said of anderson that a voice like that is heard once in a thousand years. Aretha is in that zone of once in a thousand years. She did not shy away from maria. From that point on, she only required to be called, aretha. She took Music Lessons at school. The womb of the soulful singer of our time. Lou bethel, sam cook, clara ward, mavis. She came with that. Mrs. Houston, whitneys mother singing in the background. The gospel harmonics. Jacson, washington, the cause of joy, river and jane, really came out of this womb. She was baptized in single, struggle and service. In 1942, when she was born, not in detroit, she was born on the Mississippi River in memphis, tennessee. The river that carried our people up and down for 36 years. Arethas soul from the Mississippi River. Then between tennessee and mississippi. Blacks were lynched in tennessee. 492 in arkansas. 654 in mississippi. She was 13 when they were civil rights. She had money and could not buy ice cream. She could not stop to buy gasoline. Aretha came out of the bowels of our struggle. Her father marched in detroit, 1963. His home until march on washington. Along with Harry Belafonte, he was facing bankruptcy, we couldnt go any further. Where was the money coming from . The black banks are too small and white banks are too hostile. So, aretha said well check. Well give you the money. We were on attack. Aretha franklin and Harry Belafonte stepped on the stage in houston, texas. On that stage, they put tear gas in the fan. They had to evacuate the building. She kept right on singing. She sang for carter mandela, clinton, obama. After all, before we had this level of technology, in the same group. Called the caravans. I was called last week to meet with aretha. I met with her at least a month for the last three years. She called me to reach my on the phone. Talking to the fire. Prayed a why and cried a while. I came last wednesday. Aretha was in a coma. Not able to wake up or move some days. I was with i said wake up, baby. Wake up baby. She opened her eyes. The warmth of her hand one more time. It was a hard goodbye. We came back that night with sabrina for another prayer meeting. A group playing in the background. I thought it was the last time shakespeare said when when she shall die take her hand up in stars and she will make the heavens so fine, all the world will be in love with night. Aretha had the power to make the film directors cry. It was deep and profound. She got sick. We talked more and more. She called late at night. Are you coming . Yes. You bringing bread . Im not bringing bread. Not going to bother. Inside joke. We went to four or five hospitals. To cap off singing and service, she went to new york knowing she had cancer. She was there in the bus to help aids victims. That is a signature moment in her life, all the times she was seen in her own situation, yet she was there. She asked me to give her a favorite testimony. It was that when i was a kid growing up in south carolina, they would talk about never grow old, never grow old. A great singer for a blind voice, sang. He said im drinking liquor tonight. Im not an alcoholic, but i have four stage of cancer. I dont have insurance. The liquid is for my pain. Forgive me for drinking, i dont mean to disrespect you. He had a daughter on tap. He said let me sing a couple songs for you. I know you are concerned im drinking. Im not a drunk. Im drinking for pain. I was born without eyes. I have never seen the blue. I have never seen a rose. I can touch it. My wife, i cant see it, i know the contour. And my children, i love them by the sound of their voice and pat of their feet. Dont feel sorry for me because im blind and have cancer. I am born across the river. I heard theres a man over there who is giving sight to the blind. Hes curing cancer. When you hit that point in your life where the man is over there, a few months ago, aretha was afraid. I had parkinsons. The older you get, the diseases come out of nowhere, it seems. Let me say to you today, this is not for aretha, this is for us. We leave here today not registered to vote, you will dishonor aretha. [ applause ] you hear all the singing and dont feel something, something wrong with you. When we met, maybe 15 years old. Im now 77. 78 in a few weeks. Parkinsons is in trouble. I have faith. The doctor said parkinsons will knock you down. It will, but there is a god. The doctor of doctors. Dont fear these disease when you change your clothes and move to a different transition. I can say now with a level of certainty i could nt years ago. I once was young. I have traveled to china. I have traveled to japan, all around the world. I have seen i worked with dr. King. I worked with m