he was there by her side during her
final days of life visiting his longtime
close friend Aretha Franklin at her home
just days before she passed away from
her long battle with pancreatic cancer
America's foremost civil rights
activists Baptist minister and
politician the Reverend Jesse Jackson
joins us here this morning thank you so
much for being here
well I remember the last month I got a
call I met with the RZA she was
functioning about a month ago and then I
gonna call the last month she was at
taking the realtor for the worse and so
I broke my schedule and came here and
she was lying there and seaming the
perfect piece father's record was
playing in the background and when I got
there early in Franklin Cecil's
brother's wife was there and and so I
said I'm here I'm here even she opened
her eyes slightly she was struggling to
say something she couldn't she fell back
asleep it was a very touching moment but
I remember her alive and vibrant and
making stuff happen I remember so well
back in 15 if you can imagine 58 1958 we
were before that was internet and there
was radio and there was Debbie LACC
Nashville Tennessee on Sunday night
mm-hmm
we would see our friend he was a
superstar preached before not hing
emerged okay talking about I read this
room C L Franklin mm-hmm and one thing
that he said no I'm gonna let my
daughter say miss she really can say and
she my table 6a
uh-huh she's saying that role if she hit
the ground as a star and later on she
went on to study music in New York talk
about you were there at the viewing
yesterday and just the outpouring of
love and support from her we mean we
talked to people from Amsterdam Las
Vegas Italy all over the country in the
world how would how would she feel about
this outpouring how did she want to be
remembered well she never left the
church yeah she never left home it's a
black home girl going home yeah that
feeling but also I'm not suited she have
appreciated just how globe
she was mm-hmm we just stopped flying
some years ago right she would drive
let's think about as long as she did her
last act when she knew she had the
cancer undeniably so with the New York
on a bus with the pancreatic cancer with
Elton John them did a concert for AIDS
victims and she was dying herself had
been dying people see was a signature
moment because between that moment in
this moment we deserve so many people in
a big concert but here in downtown
Detroit last summer you're gonna bet she
was very sick on the other day and when
you said and when the wouldn't he
Houston died you tested so didn't
because wouldn't he kind of grew up on
there and the mother sister used to
singing background for Aretha yeah she's
kind of been through those and yes she
just kept on plowing through she
certainly did talk about just her place
in American history I mean she was there
with you back in the 60s early 70s
during those those fights for civil
rights her music was so impactful and
powerful inspiring then and today talk
about her places constantly the once
said after the battle about Marion
Anderson the voice letter has come too
long 1000 years the readers in that
category the Riddler that wants the best
jazz singer best blues singer with mu
and Gosling in the world that's at same
time we shoot on top of a game and she
worked hard at it when not the king was
struggling to make payroll because he
was on the taxes there's been no
opposition
she and Bella funded 11 city to around
the country give all the proceeds to the
SCLC
when cooming young ran for mayor I
remember the night that coma jung-hwan
she's for the coma but she's out of town
that night I was saying with her father
brother friend on the sabola bar and she
called Dan we wanted we wanna be one :
young the victory dr. King's work which
she sang temperatures order his funeral
a Mandela are there
Obama just remarkable she's had
different levels of social justice that
was very mature they're very acute sense
of politics well thank you so much I
could talk to you for so long but we do
have more news to get to but I thank you
for stopping by and always making
yourself available to stop by here at
local for and certainly throughout the
community over the next piece is a very
special moment in Detroit history
certainly in American history really it
certainly is thank you appreciate it