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Bernice Johnson Reagon
Bernice Johnson Reagon (October 4, 1942 – July 16, 2024) was an American song leader, composer, professor of American history, curator at the Smithsonian, and social activist. In the early 1960s, she was a founding member of the Freedom Singers, organized by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Albany Movement for civil rights in Georgia. In 1973, she founded the all-black female a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, based in Washington, D.C. She was a member/founder of Sweet Honey In The Rock from 1973 to 2006. Reagon, along with other members of the SNCC Freedom Singers, realized the power of collective singing to unify the disparate groups who began to work together in the 1964 Freedom Summer protests in the South.
"After a song", Reagon recalled, "the differences between us were not so great. Somehow, making a song required an expression of that which was common to us all.... This music was like an instrument, like holding a tool in your hand."
The Albany Singing Movement became a vital catalyst for change through music in the early 1960s protests of the Civil Rights era. Reagon devoted her life to social justice through music via recordings, activism, community singing, and scholarship.
She earned her Ph.D. from Howard University, becoming a cultural historian, centered on the role of music. She was professor emerita in the Department of History at The American University. She had also been a scholar-in-residence at Stanford and received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.
Bernice Johnson was born in 1942 in Dougherty County, Georgia, United States. She was the daughter of Beatrice Wise Johnson, and Jeese Johnson Sr. a Baptist minister. She was born and raised in southwest Georgia, where church and school were an integrated part of her life, with music heavily intertwined in both of those settings. Reagon was the third oldest kid out of the other 7 siblings, the order of all 8 siblings were: Fannie Johnson, Jordan Johnson, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Mae Frances Johnson, Aaron Johnson, Deloris Johnson, Jesse Johnson Jr, Mamie Johnson. In her family, began school at the age of three when she was asked by her teacher to attend early, and she passed that first year. By the time she was in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade, she was requested to tutor students in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and she said it was because there had only been one teacher.
In 1959, she entered Albany State College (since July 1996 called Albany State University), where she began her study of music. She also became active in the local NAACP chapter and then the SNCC. After being expelled from Albany State because of an arrest as an activist, she briefly attended Spelman College.
Later, she returned to Spelman to complete her undergraduate degree in 1970. She received a Ford Foundation fellowship to do graduate study at Howard University, where she was awarded the Ph.D. degree in 1975.
Reagon's first demonstration had been in protest against the arrest of Bertha Gober, and Blanton Hall, organized by SNCC along with the initial arrest of the two individuals, for they planned to be arrested in a discussion during a SNCC meeting. Reagon was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. She was a member of The Freedom Singers, organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), for which she also served as a field secretary. Reagon explains her first encounter with SNCC as a confusion, for she did not understand the name, or its organization, but she claims that she understood that they were for freedom and full-time. The Freedom Singers were organized by Cordell Reagon in 1962. The group was the first of the civil rights singers to travel nationally. The singers realized that singing helped provide an outlet and unifier for protestors struggling with mob behavior and police brutality. Thanks to her roles with SNCC and the Freedom Singers, Reagon became a highly respected song leader during the Civil Rights Movement.[citation needed]
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Bernice Johnson Reagon
Bernice Johnson Reagon (October 4, 1942 – July 16, 2024) was an American song leader, composer, professor of American history, curator at the Smithsonian, and social activist. In the early 1960s, she was a founding member of the Freedom Singers, organized by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Albany Movement for civil rights in Georgia. In 1973, she founded the all-black female a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, based in Washington, D.C. She was a member/founder of Sweet Honey In The Rock from 1973 to 2006. Reagon, along with other members of the SNCC Freedom Singers, realized the power of collective singing to unify the disparate groups who began to work together in the 1964 Freedom Summer protests in the South.
"After a song", Reagon recalled, "the differences between us were not so great. Somehow, making a song required an expression of that which was common to us all.... This music was like an instrument, like holding a tool in your hand."
The Albany Singing Movement became a vital catalyst for change through music in the early 1960s protests of the Civil Rights era. Reagon devoted her life to social justice through music via recordings, activism, community singing, and scholarship.
She earned her Ph.D. from Howard University, becoming a cultural historian, centered on the role of music. She was professor emerita in the Department of History at The American University. She had also been a scholar-in-residence at Stanford and received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.
Bernice Johnson was born in 1942 in Dougherty County, Georgia, United States. She was the daughter of Beatrice Wise Johnson, and Jeese Johnson Sr. a Baptist minister. She was born and raised in southwest Georgia, where church and school were an integrated part of her life, with music heavily intertwined in both of those settings. Reagon was the third oldest kid out of the other 7 siblings, the order of all 8 siblings were: Fannie Johnson, Jordan Johnson, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Mae Frances Johnson, Aaron Johnson, Deloris Johnson, Jesse Johnson Jr, Mamie Johnson. In her family, began school at the age of three when she was asked by her teacher to attend early, and she passed that first year. By the time she was in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade, she was requested to tutor students in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and she said it was because there had only been one teacher.
In 1959, she entered Albany State College (since July 1996 called Albany State University), where she began her study of music. She also became active in the local NAACP chapter and then the SNCC. After being expelled from Albany State because of an arrest as an activist, she briefly attended Spelman College.
Later, she returned to Spelman to complete her undergraduate degree in 1970. She received a Ford Foundation fellowship to do graduate study at Howard University, where she was awarded the Ph.D. degree in 1975.
Reagon's first demonstration had been in protest against the arrest of Bertha Gober, and Blanton Hall, organized by SNCC along with the initial arrest of the two individuals, for they planned to be arrested in a discussion during a SNCC meeting. Reagon was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. She was a member of The Freedom Singers, organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), for which she also served as a field secretary. Reagon explains her first encounter with SNCC as a confusion, for she did not understand the name, or its organization, but she claims that she understood that they were for freedom and full-time. The Freedom Singers were organized by Cordell Reagon in 1962. The group was the first of the civil rights singers to travel nationally. The singers realized that singing helped provide an outlet and unifier for protestors struggling with mob behavior and police brutality. Thanks to her roles with SNCC and the Freedom Singers, Reagon became a highly respected song leader during the Civil Rights Movement.[citation needed]