Cissy Houston Hit A High Note For Black Culture

cissy houston smiling
Via Wikipedia
Leslie Grover-Taylor
October 10, 2024

Cissy Houston’s love of music touched every part of the music industry. From rock to gospel, her talent influenced generations of top artists. Here are three relationships Houston had that also made Black history.

#1 Leontyne Price opened doors for Black opera singers across the globe. She refused to sing for racist audiences or take on roles she saw as harmful to Black women. Houston was Price’s cousin.

#2 Mahalia Jackson’s voice was called the “soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement.” A close friend of Martin Luther King, she inspired him to improvise what became his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. When Houston was just five years old and going by her birth name, Emily Drinkard, she and her siblings formed a gospel group. In  1959, they performed with Jackson in a highly billed concert.

#3 Aretha Franklin wasn’t just the Queen of Soul, she was ride-or-die for pro-Blackness. From refusing to play for whites-only audiences to posting bail money for Angela Davis, Franklin undeniably demanded respect for her activism. Houston sang backup for Franklin, and they shared a loving 50-year friendship.

Houston’s legacy goes far beyond her connections in the music industry. Her life reminds us that love and joy are crucial parts of liberation.

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