It has been revealed that the FBI had been monitoring the late Aretha Franklin for years.
According to reports, a 270-page document shows the Queen of Soul was under the watch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as a way to “gauge how involved she was with the civil rights movement, communism, and the Black Power Movement.”
NPR states that “Franklin was monitored ahead of several performances and attendances she made for civil rights groups, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, whose first president was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
The FBI also watched Franklin’s father, Rev. C.L. Franklin, who was close friends with Dr. King. These tactics by the FBI were disclosed throughout the years through many requests including from the Freedom of Information Act.
It was also discovered that the counter-intelligence program, COINTELPRO, watch Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton when he was just 14 years old as well as Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad, and Dr.King.
Aretha Franklin’s name has been mentioned by the FBI in memos for many years even when she would be invited to public gatherings and rallies for the advancement of racial justice.
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