How Dis-R-E-S-P-E-C-T-ful

August 16 of 2018, America lost the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin to pancreatic cancer. Her funeral was held at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit where family, friends, and presidents alike, came together to give their respects. Memories of the impact Aretha left on so many lives were shared as well as beautiful music from the voices of Stevie Wonder, Ariana Grande, and Jennifer Hudson, just to name a few.

As beautiful as the funeral was it seems someone in particular felt the need to shake the table a bit. After hearing Reverend Jasper Williams Junior’s eulogy speech at our beloved Queen of Soul’s funeral, I took the time to do a little research on the definition and purpose of a eulogy speech just to see who missed the memo. What is the purpose of a eulogy speech? “A eulogy (from εὐλογία, eulogia, Classical Greek for “praise”) is a speech or writing in praise of a person(s) or thing(s), especially one recently dead or retired or as a term of endearment. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. They take place in a funeral home during or after a wake.” (John Noah, Funeral Program Facilitator)

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So, I’m sure we all can agree that what we heard from Rev Williams was far from praise. In fact, most called it out as a selfish personal agenda considering his many personal ideologies that contradicted both Aretha Franklin’s life and views. Let’s remember that a eulogy is supposed to be a form of praise and somehow, Williams still found it appropriate to call single parenting, without a father in the home “abortion after birth”.  

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Now, this is a comment made at a woman’s funeral who so happened to be a single mother of four. To put a cherry on top of that, he uses his platform -at the funeral of a woman who is black no less – to state how black lives “do not matter, shall not matter, and will not matter until black people learn to have some R-E-S-P-E-C-T for one another and stop killing one another” which is another statement made that contradicts what Aretha Franklin stood for.

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Instead of using his platform to shed light and give respects to the legacy that Aretha Franklin left behind as a single mother of four and shedding light on the impact her music had on so many lives, he took a speech that was supposed to be used as a praise for Aretha’s life and legacy, to scorn the African American community. As Franklin’s family stated, this speech was “offensive and distasteful” and many of us can agree that it was just flat-out disrespectful.