I remember being a little girl bouncing around chanting “R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Take care TCB. Oh!!!”
But, I didn’t really know who Aretha Franklin the artist was until I was a teenager and heard these words, “We going riding on the freeway of love in a pink cadillac.”
Like the kids of today, who hear an artist for the first time and think they are new or the song is new, I was an Aretha Franklin – rookie. But I loved that raspy, soulful voice and what she was putting down in that Freeway of Love jam.
Boy! They don’t make that kind music anymore!
Still, it was Respect, that I hummed as I made this beautiful pair of black spinel and gold field earrings. As I shaped, hammered and wrapped wire, I told myself that one day I would be a respected jewelry designer.
Yep, folks would see my designs and put some respect on my name.
So, when I was done designing, making and polishing these earrings, there was only one name to give them – ARETHA.
I recently discontinued the earring design. But, in honor of the women, who’s song inspired me while I worked, I am bringing the ARETHA EARRINGS back.
Over recent years, I have heard people make jokes about this Queen. But today, in her death, she has shown that she was always the fighter, working even through her pain, until her body said enough and the Lord called her home.
ARETHA FRANKLIN – RESPECT THE NAME. RESPECT THE TALENT. RESPECT THE LEGACY.
How has Aretha Franklin inspired you? Was it through a song? Was it through her work?