Book cover for Sing, Aretha, Sing!: Aretha Franklin,"Respect," and the Civil Rights Movement by Hanif Abdurraqib

Sing, Aretha, Sing!

Aretha Franklin,"Respect," and the Civil Rights Movement

2022 Released
40 Pages
0-1 Hours
Audiobook Unavailable
Paperback Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)ISBN 9780374390860

A young Aretha Franklin captivates her community with the song “Respect” during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, in this striking picture book biography that will embolden today’s young readers to sing their own truth.

When Aretha Franklin sang, she didn’t just sing…she sparked a movement. As a performer and a civil rights activist, the Queen of Soul used her voice to uplift freedom fighters and the Black community during the height of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Her song “Respect” was an anthem of identity, survival, and joy. It gave hope to people trying to make change. And when Aretha sang, the world sang along.

With Hanif Abdurraqib’s poetic voice and Ashley Evans’s dynamic illustrations, Sing, Aretha, Sing! demonstrates how one brave voice can give new power to a nation, and how the legacy of Aretha Franklin lives on in a world still fighting for freedom.

Hanif Abdurraqib

Hanif Abdurraqib, a New York Times bestselling author is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His work has been published widely in major venues including The FADER, Pitchfork, and The New Yorker. Abdurraqib's books have been finalists for or winners of the Eric Hoffer Book Prize, the Kirkus Prize, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. His most recent book is There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension. Hanif is a graduate of Beechcroft High School.

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