"The "Godfather of Soul," who died in Atlanta on Monday aged 73, was one of the most important leaders of America’s civil rights movement during the second half of the 20th Century. He communed with presidents and elected officials of all political stripes, recorded groundbreaking black-pride anthems, and may have saved Boston from being burned by rioters in the days following the assassination of Martin Luther King. His funky 1968 anthem "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud" preached economic self-reliance and taught generations of hard-working blacks it was time to "get our share."(Reuters)