Detroit Post Office Renamed in Honor of Aretha Franklin

Photo credit @RepLawrence Twitter: Members of Arethra Franklin’s
family, as well as postal and elected officials, joined Rep. Brenda 
Lawrence to celebrate the naming of a Detroit post office in the singer's
honor on Monday.

"All I'm asking is for a little respect when I come home," sang Aretha Franklin in her signature tune "Respect" released in 1967.

Over her long and illustrious career, she earned more than a little, winning 18 Grammy Awards, selling more than 75 million albums and acquiring the nickname "Queen of Soul" before her death from pancreatic cancer in 2018 at age 76.

Three years later, with a little help from one of her friends, the place she called home is giving her some more respect.

Monday Detroit announced that the former Fox Creek post office located about five miles east of downtown — not far from a concert amphitheater on the Detroit River that also is named for Franklin — will now be known as the “Aretha Franklin Post Office Building."

“Her legacy lives on in her music, in her family. But we have added to that list of her legacy: A post office with her name on it,” said U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, a Michigan Democrat and longtime postal service worker, who was friends with Franklin and introduced the bill in Congress that resulted in the name change.

Aretha Franklin backs Brenda Lawrence for Congress in tomorrow's August 5th primary for Congress! R.E.S.P.E.C.T. : ) pic.twitter.com/1JYmW5GNoG

— Brenda Lawrence (@BrendaLLawrence) August 5, 2014

“Sometimes people wonder if Congress can come together,” the Lawrence continued. “Congress can come together when it comes to standing up and recognizing this amazing person.”