DETROIT, Mich. (WSYM) - Monday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II joined leaders and representatives from across the state at the unveiling of the Aretha Franklin Memorial Highway sign.
The bill, House Bill 4060, is sponsored by Representative Leslie Love. It dedicates a portion of M-10 between Livernois and I-94 to honor longtime Detroit resident and singer Aretha Franklin.
Although Aretha was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1942, her family left Memphis when she was 2 years old. Her father, pastor and civil rights activist C. L. Franklin, took a job as a pastor at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit. Franklin began her career there as a child singing gospel in that Detroit church.
She went on to have an incredible career, influencing American culture with her music and personality. In 2005 she accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush. In 2008, she sang at the inauguration of America’s first black president.
Franklin died in 2018, at the age of 76.
