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Should we show more respect to each other and is greater formality the way to that?

Just back from Florida - taking a very brief break from the day job - to present Americana which is broadcast on Radio Four this Sunday.

That's how I find myself sitting with America's foremost mezzo-soprano, , in her lovely piano room, dominated by a grand piano, the walls covered with photos and paintings of her most celebrated performances.

But it's very much a working room - the glass table in front of us is covered with sheet music for various parts for mezzo-sopranos - and she tells me she was up practising at six that morning. She says her daughter tells her to be quiet and "stop that noise".

What she was practising in the early hours was her tribute to in front of the president and much of the capital's establishment.

Dorothy Height was head of the for 40 years, known for her toughness and dignity, always very properly dressed in hat and gloves. Denyce tells me the service made her reflect on her own life.

She tells me: "I felt - my gosh! - I have been spending the whole of my life occupied with my own life and my family and I felt a bit ashamed that I haven't done more reaching out to the larger community. I think that it encourages us all to do more, we should do more."

I mention Dorothy Height's image, those hats and gloves.

"It reminds me of the ladies going to the church. That sense of dignity is very important and I think we've lost a lot of that. At the service you could see a lot of women wore hats in her honour. I do like that formality: it reminds us of who we are, I think it helps to keep us in check.

"I had a visit some years ago with and the entire time she called me Miss Graves, and there were people there who had worked with her for 25 years and she continually called them Mrs Smith and Mr Jones and I think it reminds us of our greatness. I think it shows such respect. It causes us to behave differently."

A bit old-fashioned, I suggested.

"I like it. It reminds us of who we are. A lot of Americans have become very, very casual with each other. It reminds us who we are and puts us in touch with our heritage. "

I said that many of the people in that cathedral had fought great battles together, but wondered if there was the same sense of solidarity among African Americans today.

"I would like to think it does. I am not sure in the same way, thanks to Dorothy Height and so many other greater trail-blazer. They have opened a lot of doors, but there's a lot of solidarity within the community."

I hesitate with liberal guilt and ask if I am making unwarranted assumptions - why should she feel any more solidarity with a woman from poor south Washington, than a well-off white man might with unemployed whites?

"It is different. It is very much there and alive. I liken it to after 9/11. There was a sense that you could feel that was quite visceral, that we were all Americans and something had happened to the whole of us. And I think that happens on a different scale with African Americans.

"I certainly feel it all the time, if I am walking down the street if I happen to pass another African American there is a sort of acknowledgement, that always happens - 'yes, I see you, yes I acknowledge you'. I am married to a Caucasian man and if we are out and I see a group of African Americans I always make real a point to make to say hello to say 'we are together and we are united and we are in this together'. It does exist still and I think it always will."

You can hear the rest of the interview and much more on Americana at 1915 Sunday on Radio Four and at numerous times on the World Service starting at 1430 on Monday in the Americas.

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