Category Archives: Church

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 4: The Underdog…

Hello World,

Since the title of tonight’s Greenleaf episode was named “The Underdog,” this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 4 will explore that theme through the titles of some famous movies that featured underdogs!

Facing the Giants…

As indicated by last week’s episode, Lady Mae travels to Atlanta to see her old friend Maxine Patterson, who is now a preacher with a giant following. Her expansive office with gigantic portraits of Maxine along with the soundtrack of her sermons playing on the PA system speaks to the success of her ministry. And as she walks into Maxine’s office, Patti LaBelle’s song “When You’ve Been Blessed” begins to play. That was a perfect use of her song! When Lady Mae’s name is announced as she comes in, Patti I mean Maxine says, “Ms. Greenleaf who? Mae McCready.” That’s the thing about old friends. They knew you before you had your new name and titles! She promptly tells her friend to “sit down before you fall down” and to put away that “first lady facade.” And old friends can see past the masks that we wear too. Knowing that she can trust her friend, Mae tells her why she traveled all that way. “You were right.” She should have gotten her master of divinity instead of her Mrs. degree and that she is divorcing her husband. Now, Mae wants to go back to school, get that degree and start her own church. Maxine says, “Why? You already got a good one.” She says that Mae should not leave her church to start a new one. “Take OVER Mae. It’s yours.”

Since Bishop is Goliath in this scenario and Lady Mae is David, Lady Mae, affirmed by her friend’s counsel, comes back to Memphis and her home where is determined to gain control of Calvary somehow and someway. But first things first. Bishop and Lady Mae are hosting a Bishop’s Round Table party where they are honoring the movers and the shakers of the church. Of course, Clara, their $2 million-dollar benefactor whom they are counting on to bail them out of the IRS situation, is an honored guest.

Lady Mae isn’t the only one with an alternative agenda. Bishop, however, is bringing out his big guns at the Bishop’s Round Table party. He invites the man who introduced Lady Mae and Bishop to one another: Percy Lee Thompson, a local funeral home owner.

Rocky…

Lady Mae suspects that Bishop is up to something, but she tells him that whatever he has in the works will not stop the unraveling of their rocky marriage. In fact, even though Bishop is pleading for Lady Mae to recommit to their marriage (although he is the one who filed for divorce…smh…), Lady Mae just aine tryin’ to hear that yang-yang no mo. “We’re done James so whatever is going on tonight, we’re done.”

Speaking of being done, Kevin is done trying to reach Charity by just calling her, Kevin with Aaron in tow busts into the Greenleaf house and is about to disrupt the festivities. Luckily, Grace heads him off before too much commotion commences. “I’m looking for Charity,” he says. “She is ignoring my phone calls.” Before I get into what happens after that, I must say this: Kevin has some glorified nerve trying to track down Charity like he is a bounty hunter when he disappeared shortly after his son was born. Charity may be a mess but her ex-husband is a hypocrite. Anyhow, Grace offers to call Charity and is able to reach her. Charity is sitting poolside God knows where and has just ordered a Georgia Peach cocktail. (Oh, she’s in Atlanta! LOL) I’ve lived in Georgia nearly all of my life and I didn’t know that was such a thing, but I guess I should have guessed that was a drink. When Grace tells her little sister that Kevin is looking for her, she tells Grace to let him know that she is “taking care of business” although it’s clear she’s not on anyone’s tour. She goes on to say, “Kevin did what he what he wanted and I can do the same.” Charity is cray for running off with Nate like that, but she does have a point. Grace pleads with Aaron to persuade Kevin not to call the cops on Charity.

Bishop and Grace are not the only ones pleading with someone at the party. Kerissa pleads with Jacob to send Zora to Oregon for a behavior modification program for troubled teens, but Jacob doesn’t like the idea. Lady Mae tells Jacob she has another idea. “You all should bring her to me for a while.”

Before that conversation comes to completion, Bishop asks for everyone in the party to gather around for a speech he wants to make. He thanks everyone for coming to the annual Bishop’s Round Table Party, but he also speaks uses the platform to speak publicly about his devotion to Lady Mae. He begins by quoting from Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Saying phrases like “Two are better than one” and “How can one keep warm alone?” he praises Lady Mae by sticking by him for their 40-year marriage. He tells the audience that when he was young, he thought he was destined to be a “lonely creature” because he had had “never met a woman who took her faith as seriously as I took mine.” But that all changed when he met Lady Mae. Since the Lord sent her to Bishop, he says he has never felt “cold, forsaken or unsure.” He goes on to say, “This church, this family, let no man pull asunder.” He wants at least another 40 years with her by his side. He kisses her to seal his words. Despite herself, Lady Mae smiles and seems to soften her stance just a bit. But just like in the Garden of Eden, the snake knows when to show up. Rochelle Cross, shiny in black sequins, steals the air in the room when she appears. For a moment, the sea encompassing Lady Mae’s heart had stilled but the sight of Rochelle set her heart adrift again in rocky waters.  “What is she doing here?” Lady Mae sputters.

The Karate Kid…

Like Daniel, the underdog in “The Karate Kid,” Bishop has to spring into action and protect his turf from the certain destruction that Rochelle Cross will cause if allowed to stay at this party. “Ms. Cross, may I have a word with you?” Bishop says with all of the gentility that he can muster given the urgency of the situation. After he pulls her aside, he says, “I’m trying to repair my relationship with my wife. You shouldn’t be here.” Rochelle declares that “she is still a member of Calvary. I’m not going to slink off into the night like I’m a shameful secret.” At this point, she sounds as dumb as she looks. What does she think she has to offer that Bishop doesn’t already have? I know she is a younger woman, but aside from her relative youth (because she aine all that young) she is not the type of woman who can hold down a shepherd of a flock. How do I know? I was raised by a woman who has stood by a shepherd of a flock. It’s not easy and erebody aine able. Maybe Bishop has that in mind when he says, “If I’ve given you some reason to hope, I’m sorry.” I think his words should have been stronger, but she gets the message…finally. But not soon enough for Lady Mae. When Bishop goes back over to his wife, she says, “Why are you talking to me? Your business is clearly with her and not with me. ” She leaves him alone as he ponders their conversation under a portrait of them in happier times.

Rochelle makes her way to Grace and Darius although she is supposed to be on her way out. She ogles Grace’s man right in front of her. She is like the evil spirit who lives among tombs in the book of Matthew. Restless. And to make matters much worse, she chats up Ms. Clara on her way out as well. “Do you mind if I have a word with you?” When Ms. Clara obliges, she asks, “What does the church have you tied up in?” Ms. Clara, thankfully, doesn’t tell her anything, but Rochelle continues anyway. As a money manager, Rochelle advises that if it has anything to do with money, she should have her money manager vet any decision she makes.

Deaconness Connie is mixing and mingling as well and asks Grace about Kevin, who I guess she saw at the party earlier. She asks why Kevin has stopped coming to church. Grace, ever putting folks on the spot, says that their church should join the open and inclusive coalition which is a coalition of churches that welcome gay, lesbian and transgender church members apparently. Grace tells her Kevin would have to hide who he is at Calvary. In the line of the episode, Connie says she still the “same old Grace… When you are going to outgrow that old habit of agitating for every underdog except Jesus?” Grace retorts with, “Every underdog is Jesus.”

But the drama is ratcheted up when Zora’s issues are center stage. Sophia goes outside to spend some time with her boyfriend Roberto, but when his kisses become more intense, she suggests that they go back inside. Roberto, however, is hot under the collar and doesn’t want to go back inside with Sophia. When Sophia returns, she tells her cousin what happened. “I think he wants to have sex with me.” Zora responds with sarcasm and questions Sophia’s stance on waiting until marriage for sex. When Sophia notices that her cousin was using her computer to communicate with Isaiah, Christian Breezy, their interaction quickly escalates. Zora is tired of Sophia’s Miss Christian way of conducting herself. “It’s Christian this or Bible that.” “Every time I talk to you, you suck the life out of me.” She calls her “God’s little b****!” How disrespectful. Sophia comes back with calling her boyfriend a “pile of trash.” When Zora threatens to hit her, Sophia says she can can “see what he taught you.” And the girls get to scrappin’. Luckily, Kerissa is able to separate them! (As one of my readers suggested, a public awareness announcement about domestic violence between teenagers should be included at the end of the episode. I don’t remember one being showed before, but I could be wrong.)

Cool Runnings…

Although the Greenleaf grandkids were cooled down at least for the moment, there are still more fires to put out at the party. On her way out of the party with her granddaughter Karine, Clara tells Lady Mae that she wants to Bishop and Lady Mae to sit down with her money manager before the $2 million transaction is complete. Lady Mae keeps her cool and says, “Bishop and I would be happy to sit down with your money people.”

After the festivities are over, Deaconness Connie goes to Grace’s office. Concerned that the church may be losing their leaders with Bishop and Lady Mae’s marriage in tatters and news of the IRS scandal spreading on the Internet, she realizes that a Greenleaf still needs to be at the helm of the church. “You may be need to step up and take over as head pastor.” Of course, Lady Mae would lose her cool if that were to happen. Lady Mae needs to watch her back but she has watch Zora’s back for right now at least as Jacob and Kerissa drop off Zora with her. Kerissa isn’t thrilled about the proposition given that what happened with Faith Greenleaf wasn’t exactly a testament to Lady Mae’s parenting skills. But now that Mac is dead, things will be different. Some people think that Zora’s out-of-control behavior is evidence that Mac may have abused Zora too. I don’t know but I thought he preferred young, light-skinned girls. But that is a theory worth exploring. And if that is the case, maybe Lady Mae can reach her since she was abused by her father. Remember?

The episode closes with Charity singing her best rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” accompanied by a pianist in a hotel lounge it seems. (I guess if gospel music aine working for her, secular music may be her next option…I disagree with that option for her though…)I thought it was Atlanta, but maybe it’s Miami since you can see the ocean or a body of water along the skyline of the city. It was a cool vibe until the police showed up!

Well, that’s all I got…

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 4: The Underdog and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 3: Chain of Command…

Hello World,

I thought a major bomb was dropped in last week, but this week’s bomb, which I will reveal later in this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 3, tops last week’s bomb Greenleafers! Yes, I know Lady Mae announced that she was divorcing Bishop last week, but we saw that coming. I did not guess that what was revealed tonight would be revealed tonight and so cavalierly too. But we will get to that later!

Tonight’s episode was entitled “Chain of Command,” and in keeping with that theme, I will proceed…

Ball & Chain…

So many of OWN’s “Greenleaf” episodes start with Lady Mae sitting at a table somewhere in her fabulous home and tonight was no exception. With her this time, however, are her daughter Grace and her granddaughter Sofia. They casually discuss weather. Sofia comments on the rain the night before and Grace says, “Everything was washed clean.” Lady Mae invites her granddaughter, not Grace, to have supper with her. Nothing too out of the ordinary happens until Marisol brings a manila envelope to her. Beware of being brought manila envelopes. I would endeavor to say that very few of them contain happy things. What’s in Lady’s manila envelope are papers asking for the dissolution of marriage between Lady Mae and the Bishop. Yes, Lady Mae threatened divorce last week and Bishop acted on that intention this week! Seeing the shock on Lady Mae’s face, Grace asks her what is in the envelope. Very rarely does Lady Mae having anything nice at all to say to her daughter. And she is true to form tonight! “After the way you spoke to me last night, if you weren’t family, you wouldn’t even be living in this house.” And then she storms off. I can’t say I blame her. She got grimy with her mother last night and then wants to get all in her grill the next day?! Chile please. With her grudge against Grace intact, she leaves the premises, racing off in her car.

Back at Calvary, instead of Bishop looking like he’s scored a victory in serving his ball & chain before she can serve him, he seems nervous. To make matters worse, his baby daughter Charity is waiting for him in his office. He’s got no patience this morning and refuses to coddle her per usual. Now that Charity has quit the tour, she announces to her father that she wants to preach! “If I’m goong to stay here, I want to move forward with my career.” She tells her father that she even has a sermon idea and everything…something about souls are songs and God being our heavenly choir director. Say what Charity?! She needs to stick making melodies because her sermons won’t be saving souls! After Bishop jokes about wanting to be a baker before he became a bishop, he tells her, “The call to preach is not anyone’s plan B.” That will preach Bishop! The chain of command will not be changing anytime soon.

Speaking of the chain of command, the daughter who Bishop believes is called to minister, Grace, meets with a donor to her legal fund for victims of domestic violence. At Rochelle’s urging, the donor gives a sizable amount to Grace in her office. Shortly afterward, Bishop asks Gigi has she seen her mother. After she tells him no, he tells what he has done!

Also on the chain of command, but at another location, is Jacob. Tasha slithers into Jacob’s office to tell him that she has noticed many torn envelopes in the offering. She thinks one of the ushers from the first service is stealing from the offering. Jacob tells her that he will be meeting with the ushers to see if he can sniff out the thief.

Chain of Fools…

Lady Mae is a lot of things, but a fool aine one of them. With the quickness, she consults with a lawyer regarding Bishop’s request for the dissolution of their marriage. This is one of my favorite scenes in tonight’s episode! Lady Mae tells the female lawyer that Bishop, a “shepherd of 4,000 souls,” has cheated on her with her sister and now he is taking up with a woman half of his age in addition to other scandalous secrets! The lawyer says, “Hypocrisy! Abuse of power! Sounds juicy!” The lawyer seems so delighted by the prospect of attacking this soon-to-be-sullied shepherd that Lady Mae is a bit hesitant to proceed. “Are you a Christian?” she asks. She replies, “No, and you’ ll be thanking me later that I’m not.” LOL. With a $10,000 retainer, she can start right now. However, Lady Mae is not the first soon-to-be former First Lady that she has represented in a divorce. She tells her that her expectations must be realistic. Lady Mae says, “I just want what I deserve.” The lawyer lets her know that what she deserves has nothing to do with what she will get. “Once your bishop is done with you, it’s Cinderella time. At midnight, the party is over.”

Well those words were enough to send Lady Mae to the club. At first, I thought it was Mavis’ club, but Mavis wasn’t anywhere in sight. When will Mavis return by the way? At the club, Lady Mae orders a Brandy Alexander. I’m not into alcohol like that but it sounds like a classy drink, so classy and rare that Lady Mae has to instruct the bartender how to mix it. As she sips, her face is aglow in the blue lights of the establishment.

Lady Mae aine no fool but her baby girl Charity can really be foolish. After Jabari hangs up on her last week, that woman calls him up and tells him she misses him. Within a minute or two, Jabari hangs up on her again and continues his conversation with the woman sitting next to him.

Back at Calvary, Grace has to speak with a reporter who was originally scheduled to speak with the missing Lady Mae. Lisa Noland from The Memphis Monarch is working on an article about the rise of women’s leadership in church. Since Grace used to be a journalist (Has she said that before? I don’t remember.) she takes pity on the journalist and decides to be her source. You know that once Lady Mae finds out, she will be hot!

Bishop still hasn’t heard anything from Lady Mae and now he is downright worried. He heads over to Triumph to see if Jacob has seen his mother. When Jacob tells him that he hasn’t seen Lady Mae either, he tells his son that he has filed for divorce from his mother. Bishop tells Jacob this sweet story about when he asked Lady Mae to marry him the first time. She said, “No” because she had “other plans.” To put a fire under her, he told her that he packed up his storefront church to follow her. I guess he wanted to show her that he was serious. Well, that was enough for Lady Mae to accept his proposal after all. “She’s the same woman as she was back then.” Apparently, Bishop thought that filing for divorce would shock Lady Mae into seeing how wrong she was to threaten divorce and back away from that proposition. It looks like his gamble backfired and he will be the one looking foolish in the end.

Unchained Melody…

Charity continues to be a lost soul as this episode unfolds. When she goes to pick up Nate from Kevin’s new apartment, instead of finding Kevin there, Aaron is there. Aaron is playing with Nate and has even bought him a new toy. She asks,”Are you moving in now?” As a matter of fact, since Aaron did receive a job offer, he will be moving into Kevin’s home. In last week’s episode, the prospect of Kevin and Aaron living together was upsetting to her, but in this week’s episode, she was more upset that Aaron has a new job on the horizon. “I’ve got my own things going on too,” she tells Aaron before taking her son and driving to Nashville!

As she enjoys the music, Lady Mae is still drinking at the club. In fact, Vernon the bartender thinks the drinks must be so good, he is considering adding the Brandy Alexander to the menu! Lady Mae even invites two other women to come to her table, telling them she will pay for their drinks! She asks them if they have heard about a famous preaching woman on TV named Maxine Patterson. When they tell her they have heard of her, Lady Mae tells them that Maxine was her college buddy and they once were going to Howard Divinity School together. At that very same bar, Lady Mae told her friend Maxine that she wouldn’t be going to divinity school with her after all. She was in love and had to stay in town. But now she has regrets. “You give your whole life to a man and in one fell swoop, he takes it all away.” Lady Mae sings the blues. And she is drunk. She is so drunk that she decides to stay at a motel next to the bar. “It may not be what you’re used to, but it’s clean,” Vernon tells her when she asks about the conditions. She stumbles to her motel room where she watches her old friend on TV.

Finally at home, Bishop still hasn’t heard from Lady Mae! And then she calls Sofia and tells her that she is sorry she won’t be making it for supper with her. She also asks Sofia to tell everyone that she is fine and will be back in the morning. Bishop hears and takes the phone from her but Lady Mae hangs up without saying a word shortly after hearing Bishop’s voice. Bishop pretends that he has a quick conversation with her although the dial tone is on the other end.

At Darius’ home, Grace reveals her reservations about Rochelle. “I can’t help but think this whole thing is about Rochelle Cross.” Darius offers to have a friend at the police department check out Ms. Cross.

After arriving in Nashville following a seven-hour drive, Charity busts into a rehearsal and tells Jabari she wants to come back on the tour. Jabari aine trying to her at this point. “I thought you loved me,” she says. He says, “I did.” Ouch. “I gave you what you said you wanted,” he says. Charity agrees and reaffirms that she is back. But Jabari says it’s too late and that the woman on stage (the woman he was talking to when Charity called before) has taken Charity’s spot. “Go home. I don’t want you here.”  I say, “Good riddance.” If you don’t want me, I aine beggin’ you to say.

Chain Gang…

Conspiring like some criminals, Rochelle and Tasha meet at a bar. Tasha says, “How did you get the IRS to reopen the case?” I should have known that Rochelle was behind this IRS shakedown. She’s a crafty one, ain’t she? Tasha expresses a bit of remorse about conspiring against Jacob. Tasha asks, “Don’t you ever worry about God?” Rochelle spits out “James Greenleaf killed my father. It wasn’t just Basie’s father. There are two generations making a mockery of religion…We have to stay the course. I have no time for backsliders.” And this is the revelation that we Greenleafers have been waiting for! The caretaker who died in the church fire that Bishop started to get insurance money was the father of Basie and Rochelle!!! I thought she would have revealed that information in some heated argument with an adversary, but it just came out of her mouth like it was nothing.

Remember Rochelle was once a member of Gethsemane Baptist Church and Gethsemane was the garden where Jesus prayed before he died on the cross. If Rochelle Cross has anything to say about it, she will be offering up Bishop for him to atone for his killing her father. And Bishop did remember that the caretaker had a daughter…Is Basie younger or older than Rochelle? Hard to tell…

Although we know that Rochelle is up to no good, Darius tells Grace his contact didn’t find anything on Rochelle, but his contact did discover a list that the IRS is using to come after churches in which the shepherds of the church didn’t pay taxes on their personal income. And Calvary is at the top of the list!

Speaking of criminal behavior, Jacob meets with the ushers to determine who has stolen from the offering, but all along he thinks his daughter is the culprit. She is the only new usher after all. After the meeting, Jacob busts into Zora’s room as Zora insists she did not steal. After turning her room upside down, he discovers bills in a box! “You lied to me,” he screams to his daughter. Kerissa, who didn’t think her troubled daughter was also a thief, is aghast!

On the other hand, Lady Mae, after having sobered up, returns to Calvary as calm as she wants to be. She asks Karine to schedule a flight to Atlanta. “I’m going to visit an old friend.” We know that is Maxine Patterson aka ThePatti.TheLaBelle baby! At Karine’s desk, she notices that Grace is on the front cover of the newspaper. “The reporter had a deadline and Grace handled it,” Karine states. I’m sure that Lady Mae will go off on Grace about this at another time.

And at the very end of the episode, Bishop, dressed in blue, finally sees Lady Mae at Calvary. He tells her his filing for divorce was a “stupid mistake.” “Let’s just start over,” he says. “We can’t, James,” says Lady Mae, who is dressed in black and resolute. AND she thanks him for filing the papers!!! She says it was her mistake to marry him and make their lives together her calling when she was called by God on her own. She’s ready to move on to “anything other than being at the mercy of a man who plucks at the web of my absurdly constructed life!” What a line!!! Regarding the divorce papers, she says her lawyer has begun to work on the case. “It’s time to go,” she says finally.

And sadly, a lone tear slides down Bishop’s downcast face. The chain of command is being broken…Lady Mae wants to head her own church!!! Y’all know when it’s all said and done, they will get back together…eventually…and what a wild ride it will be till then!

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 3: Chain of Command and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?

 

 

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Seven Reasons Why I Approve of The Rev. Jasper Williams Jr.’s Eulogy at Aretha’s Franklin’s Funeral…

Hello World,

I watched several hours of The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin’s funeral or homegoing (which word you choose is likely a reflection of your cultural origin) on Friday, but I must admit I missed the The Rev. Jasper Williams Jr.’s (pastor emeritus of  Salem Bible Church in Atlanta, Georgia) eulogy of the Queen of Soul on Friday. I mostly watched to hear some good ole black church saaangin and see who was there! Yes, I can be shallow like that. But as far as what the pastors and preachers had to say, I figured it would be what we always hear at funerals – some variation of the person was a good person or decent person, etc. (eulogy definition – a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, typically someone who has just died.) and a come- to-Jesus- while-there- is- yet-blood-running-through-your-veins appeal at the end. I’m in church every Sunday and when I was growing up that was every Sunday and Wednesday so I’ve been to many many church services and funerals/homegoings. But I’m not a preacher nor a pastor and don’t aspire to such a controversial calling but I probably could plan a pretty decent church service or homegoing if I was called upon to do so.

All that being said (written), that was why I didn’t pay attention. Some of you may wonder well wouldn’t that apply to black church saangin too. Probably but given the fact that this was the Queen of Soul’s homegoing, I figured the music would be on another level and it was. But I digress. So later on Friday, after this homegoing of all homegoings had finally commenced, I saw all kinds of chatter online regarding Rev. Williams’ eulogy.

From the AJC Article Pastor Who Delivered Aretha Franklin’s Controversial Eulogy Speaks Out:

“I need people to know that this eulogy was not reflective of God nor was it honoring to nor did it offer comfort to the bereaved or give hope for tomorrow. It was, in fact, trash. And as long as we don’t boldly call this out we are complicit.”

“Aretha Franklin was a mother of four black boys, two of them she had as a teenager. She was all set to bail Angela Davis out of jail. Raised money for the CRM. This eulogy is disrespectful to her legacy. I’m upset.

But since I hadn’t taken it in for myself, I had no thoughts on it. However, my mother told me my father, pastor emeritus of our church, Central Christian Church in Southwest Atlanta, approved it. So I was like, “Uh oh, if my father likes it” but many people that I “know” online don’t like it, there must be an old school/new school dynamic at work.

So finally this morning, I watched it and I kept waiting to be outraged, incensed at the implications and or Trump thread throughout the tirade, but I just wasn’t. Maybe if I had a theology degree as many people who have criticized the message do, maybe I would feel differently. But as a lay person with my own mind, I didn’t mind at all what Rev. Williams said. So below is not the thesis of a theological scholar and I highly respect them, but I respect my thoughts as well.

  1. As a student of history, I love a good history lesson. As a friend of the Franklin family who knew Aretha Franklin’s family and even delivered her own father the Rev. C.L. Franklin’s eulogy, the Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. offered a very knowledgeable perspective about how the Queen of Soul even came to be. I thought it was beautiful that this man who preached the gospel had enough insight to know his daughter did not have to confine herself to gospel music. Williams described in great detail how on one occasion, Rev. C.L. Franklin preached a gospel sermon in an auditorium in Memphis followed up by his daughter’s blues performance.
  2. Rev. Williams talked about how her iconic voice likely was developed. It was born of pain. The best artists of all kinds have gone through a measure of pain. And if you haven’t gone through pain, it’s hard to identify pleasure. In fact, pain and pleasure are twin souls and the most evocative of artistic expressions reflect both of them. Rev. C.L. Franklin’s home was a broken home and he was forced to raise four children on his own. It wasn’t the ideal situation, Rev. Williams noted and surely there must have been some pain felt along the way. It is likely that Aretha Franklin drew from that pain to sing the blues. I mean she made her first album at 14 years old! She was also 14 years old when she gave birth to her first son.
  3. A lot has been said about how Rev. Williams criticized single mothers when the Queen of Soul was likely a single parent for some time. I didn’t see that. He was saying a two-parent household is the optimum environment in which to raise a child. He was not saying that if you are a single parent, your child is doomed to fail nor was he saying that children from two-parent households always fare better than children raised in a signal parent household. We all know situations where that is not the case. But he was saying if it indeed took two people to form to a create a child, why wouldn’t it be optimum for then those two to raise that child? Now there are situations where that is impossible, but that is the model. Also, he wasn’t saying that aren’t any black fathers in the home, but we all know that this a problem that needs addressing.  (In addition, there are many single parents who have chosen to adopt children and that is a choice that should be commended.)
  4. And there are others who believe that Rev. Williams criticized the Black Lives Matter movement. How Sway? He was saving that black lives do matter. And they matter whether we police officers take them or we take them. Yes, police officers shouldn’t kill innocent black people but neither should we. Now, I will admit I don’t like the phrase “black on black crime” because most people when they kill other people kill people from their own race so there is “white on white crime,” “brown on brown crime” and so on. But since his audience was largely black, he was directing to his words to black people. We can support the Black Lives Matter movement AND support eradicating unjust murders in which both parties are black. In fact, it would be pointless not to do so.
  5. Now about his message about the virtues of segregation versus integration. Many of us have said that when black people had to depend on each other, we were more prosperous in terms of creating and sustaining our business models. I’ve never lived through segregation and based on what I’ve learned, I have no desire to do so. But also from what I’ve been told by those who have lived during both times, a certain cohesiveness has been lost in the name of progress.
  6. Speaking of black communities, many people do walk around like zombies on all manner of mood enhancers (drugs). Now, there are other communities who are experiencing this as well (Hello opioid epidemic!) but he was directing the message to the audience. Why is that so upsetting? This remind me when one child is scolded and the child comes back with, “Well, he is doing wrong too” in reference to his brother. That may be the case, but that doesn’t negate your error either.
  7. Back to my first thought. Rev. Williams is the same age as Aretha Franklin when she died last month. Do you not think she didn’t know him? They must have grown up together! That funeral was eight-hours long with dignitaries far and wide but in the end a preacher who had eugologized her father was the one I would dare to say she and the family chose. I know the Queen of Soul belongs to the world, but she was a human being first and she (they) chose him. In sum, all I can say is if you like it, I love it. Who am I to criticize whom you chose to deliver your eulogy?

That’s all I got.

Also I want to note that this is NOT a case of the whole “touch not my anointed” thing in which people are scared to criticize and critique long-time and revered clergymen. NO ONE not even the clergy is above criticism and critique which is what happened with the priests who were allowed to commit pedophilia for years in the Catholic church…

Watch the whole thing for yourself below. What are your thoughts?

Any thoughts?