Aretha Franklin’s voice was on many radios and car stereos in Brooklyn yesterday. You could hear her riding on the Freeway of Love from a passing delivery van on Flushing Avenue, rocking steady at a barbecue in Marcy Projects, saying a little prayer for you out through someones’ open window in leafy Fort Greene.
There was other music on the street to be heard, sure, – it was a sunny summer day in BK, ya’ll. But Aretha kept appearing, and reappearing, taking us to church, and sometimes bringing us to tears. Her impact on the streets was felt because of her indomitable, soaring and searing voice giving voice to women of color and because of her respected work in civil rights dating back to Martin Luther King Jr. – at times when being proud to be black was a radical act all by itself.
May Aretha’s voice never leave our streets because even though many changes did come, many of us still believe real change is still gonna come. The Queen of Soul is gone, but her soul lives on!
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Alien Mail, Captain Eyeliner, El Cekis, Ghost Beard, LMNOPI, MenaceTwo, Mr. Dis-Satisfied, Osiris Rain, Patch Whisky, Reza Piece, Sipros, Stray Ones, and Trap.
Our top image: Aretha Franklin RESPECT 1942 – 2018 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)
LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)
MenaceTwo – Reza Piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Alien Mail (photo © Jaime Rojo)
TRAP (photo © Jaime Rojo)
El Cekis in collab with Grasosobremargo for The Bushwick Collective. Detail of a work in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Stray Ones (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sipros for The Buschiwck Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Osiris Rain (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Patch Whisky . Ghost Beard for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Captian Eyeliner (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Mr. Dis-Satisfied (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Subway buskers. NYC. August 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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