What a great question for this particular week.
Marian Anderson was an Afirican American contralto who was famed in the USA and especially in Europe
In 1939 she had arranged to sing at the Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C but the Daughters of the American Revolution refused her permission to sing inside the hall because she was 'coloured' (sic) .
Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DRA in outrage at this show of prejudice and arranged instead for her to sing at the Lincoln Memorial Centre. 75,000 turned up to hear her - an event that has been called 'the greatest concert in American history'.
You can see a mural celebrating this concert on the wall of the Department of the Interior building.
See website 1. for the video of that event. It is very moving.
Marian Anderson took her responsibliies as a loved public figure seriously and used her position to act for social justice. From 1939 on she refused to sing at any segregated event.
I feel, that Aretha Franklin's singing of the same song, at the same venue, this week , after 69 years, was a tribute and a cultural connection to the work of people like Andersen who fought when the fighting was tough.