Aretha Franklin has proven that the bureau extensively tracked the late singer’s civil rights activism.The 270-page document features reports on the singer from more than 12 US states, and focuses on her friendship with Martin Luther King as well as death threats made against her and a copyright case involving a Yahoo! Groups fan site.The document, which is available to view here, shows that Franklin was monitored ahead of and around her appearances at civil rights movement events, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.The events took place in the late 1960s in Atlanta, Georgia and Memphis, Tennessee respectively, and were referred to by the FBI in the document as “communist infiltration” events.Elsewhere, Franklin was referenced in a note titled: “Assassination of Martin Luther King. Racial matters,” and notes were made of her involvement in a planned memorial concert for the famous activist.
