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A new meaning of R-E-S-P-E-C-T will take form as former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice starts gearing up for her next high-profile gig.
This time, she's out of the political realm and joining forces with the Queen of Soul.
Since serving under President George W. Bush and being succeeded by Hillary Clinton, the Birmingham, Ala., native has returned to Stanford University, where she is a professor and the Thomas and Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institute.
On July 27, Aretha Franklin will perform at Philadelphia's Mann Center for Performing Arts with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In addition to singing classical arias, she will be joined by Rice for two songs.
The classically trained pianist, who previously performed for Queen Elizabeth II and alongside famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, will join the internationally renowned soul diva for her staples 'Say a Little Prayer' and 'Natural Woman.'
Franklin, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, previously performed at President Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony but is reportedly eager for the chance to team up with Rice for the bipartisan event.
On working with Rice, the first black woman secretary of the state, Franklin, a 20-time Grammy Award winner said she "is a consummate classical pianist, and since I sing the arias, I thought that we could do something, a bipartisan effort for our favorite charities."
According to the Mann Center's website, the performance will benefit programs that support inner-city children, as well as its own education initiatives.
Comments: (102)
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By: ADMR on 6/30/2010 8:38PM
Auntie Re Says BABY Rocked STEADY(-:
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By: rasfanta on 6/30/2010 9:02PM
Oh, she back black. Can't get much blacker than Aretha. Rice picked the right sister to make her return to the community. Screw her, She didn't pay us the time of day for eight years. Does she expect us to take her in with open arms, now? She better go back to Crawford.
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By: Juana on 7/05/2010 11:52AM
Ras, I totally have to disagree with you on this one. Condi did not ignore us. She merely did her job. You never hear her agree/diagree or promote any group of people. I admire her talent, her wit, her ability to perform a job at the higher level and still remain a woman. She was not hired as a black woman. She was hired because she qualified for the position.
Her job was not to be black or represent blacks. However, she represented us to the highest by not speaking out against us. Her job was well done.
She never pretended that she was anything other than a black woman, with a powerful job. She never presented herself as white or even a wannabe white. In my eyes, Condaleeza was/is the epitome of a strong sistah. I adore her.
Compare her to some blacks who were/are in a position to influence our children and our people and she wins hands down. She never degraded her people in public like Clarence Thomas, Bill Cosby or some of the rest who have a voice but uses it to degrade instead of uplift.
My ten year old niece was so impressed by Ms. Rice that she now wants go to law school and learn several languages so that she might become the next Condaleeza Rice.
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By: charles on 7/04/2010 12:36AM
Thank you I was logging in to say the exact same thing . I use to admire Condi being a Stanford professor and all but if there ever was a sellout she is the one. When I saw this article my first thought was its a joke, right?
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By: Annie_Brooks3 on 7/04/2010 3:26PM
rasfanta, it is YOU who should hold your head down in shame for making such a disgraceful comment! I am proud of what Dr. Condaleeza Rice represented and represents for Black people everywhere! She is a positive role model not only for African Americans and women, but also for whites, Hispanics, Asians and Africans. The fight for civil rights was not just so that blacks could stay in one place, but so that we could stretch and grow. That is just what Dr. Rice has done. It is too bad that ignorant, small-minded people like you who have no ambition and no aspirations in life are still trying to do the very thing you accuse racist whites of doing - holding blacks down! You should have just kept your mouth shut, for it is better for people to think you a fool than to open your mouth and prove them right. Dr. Rice doesn't have to expect right-thinking, intelligent, African Americans of purpose "to take her in with open arms now." She has never been out of the fold. YOU, on the other hand, are still in the ghetto, despite ALL that has been done to give you a hand UP and OUT! I'll take the Condoleeza Rices of this world ANYDAY over your kind - African American or not.
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By: LARRY on 7/04/2010 3:48PM
rasfanta, Your an idiot !
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By: John on 7/04/2010 6:00PM
Rasfanta: You are the one disgracing the Black community. There are duties that serve our country as a whole and she did them well. Stop looking for special privileges and favors in every corner.
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By: Bruce on 7/04/2010 7:21PM
Right on, Das. If there was ever an "Aunt Tom" cabinet member, set up to be "the show black", it was Condoleeza Rice. She clearly had her lips firmly planed on W's butt, and never made a principled stand during her entire tenure as Sec'y. of State. We CERTAINLY don't need to see her trotted out on stage like a trained monkey-- she's had more than her alloted 15 minutes already!
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By: Wilson on 7/04/2010 9:59PM
I agree with you, Rice gave blacks the cold shoulder for 8 yrs, blacks did not hear a peep out of her for that time. Sure she did her job, but blacks needed her input, and it was not there.
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By: Ed on 7/04/2010 11:21PM
I too, have to disagree with you. Condi did a wonderful job representing all Americans and that's what we are regardless of the color of our skin. She did a wonderful job and is an extremely intelligent individual. Give her some love as well as some credit.
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