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Bernice Johnson Reagon

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Bernice Johnson Reagon
Background information
Birth nameBernice Johnson
Born(1942-10-04)October 4, 1942
OriginDougherty County, Georgia, U.S.
DiedJuly 16, 2024(2024-07-16) (aged 81)
GenresA cappella
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • scholar
InstrumentVocals
Years active1966–2024
Formerly of
Websitebernicejohnsonreagon.com/

Bernice Johnson Reagon (October 4, 1942 – July 16, 2024) was an American song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist who, in the early 1960s, was a founding member of Freedom Singers, organized by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Albany Movement in Georgia.[1][2] In 1973, she founded the all-black female a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, based in Washington, D.C.[3] 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.[4]

"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."[5]

The Albany Singing Movement became a vital catalyst for change through music in the early 1960s protests of the Civil Rights era.[5][6] Reagon devoted her life to social justice through music via recordings, activism, community singing, and scholarship.[7][8][9][10]

She earned her Ph.D. from Howard University becoming a cultural historian, centered on the role of music, and was an emeritus faculty member in the History Department at The American University.[11] She had also been a scholar-in-residence at Stanford[12] and received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.[13]

Early life and education

Bernice Johnson was born in 1942 in Dougherty County, Georgia.[14] She was the daughter of Beatrice and J.J. Johnson, 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 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 claimed it was because there had only been one teacher.[15]

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.[16]

Career

Activism

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.[15] 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.[15] 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]

Activist James Forman later said: "I remember seeing you lift your beautiful black head, stand squarely on your feet, your lips trembling as the melodious words 'Over my head, I see freedom in the air' came forth with an urgency and a pain that brought out a sense of intense renewal and commitment of liberation. And when the call came to protest the jailings, you were up front. You led the line. Your feet hit the dirty pavement with a sureness of direction. You walked proudly onward singing 'this little light of mine, 'and the people echoed, 'shine, shine, shine.'"[7][17]

Academic

In 1974, Reagon was appointed as a cultural historian in music history at the Smithsonian Institution, where she directed a program called Black American Culture in 1976,[18] and was later a curator of music history for the National Museum of American History. Ida Jones from the Smithsonian Institution had stated, "Dr. Reagon collected photographs,sheet music, and other primary and secondary sources chronicling the development of African American sacred music tradition from its birth during the period of slavery through the creation of concert spiritual, gospel music, jazz, and the performance of protest song in the century following Emancipation," with relation to Reagon's initial job at the museum.[18]

In 1989, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. After Reagon retired in 1993, she continued to work in African American Songs of Protest as a Curator Emeritus.[citation needed]

She held an appointment as Distinguished Professor of history at American University (AU) in Washington DC from 1993 to 2003. Reagon was later named professor emerita of history at AU, and held the title of Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian.[16][19]

Music

External videos
video icon "Eyes on the Prize; Interview with Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon" conducted in 1986 for the Eyes on the Prize documentary.

Reagon claimed that she grew up in a church without a piano, so her early music was a cappella, and her first instruments were her hands and feet, and she explained, "that's the only way I can deal comfortably with creating music." When Reagon spoke about her upbringing in the musical culture, she explained that even her early schooling was heavily involved with music, not just the church. Reagon said that her teacher would lead the students outside to play games that entailed singing with their hands and feet, as well as their voices. There was also competitions among the students, and Reagon won first place as a child when running against the older students reciting Langston Hughes' poem "I've Known Rivers".[15]

Reagon was a specialist in African-American oral history, performance and protest traditions. She served as music consultant, producer, composer, and performer on several award-winning film projects, notably PBS television productions such as Eyes on the Prize (1987) (in which she also appeared) and Ken Burns' The Civil War (1990). Reagon was also featured in a film, We Shall Overcome, which was about the song and its placement in the movement, being produced by Ginger Records and made by Henry Hampton, the creator of Eyes on The Prize.[18] She was the conceptual producer and narrator of the Peabody Award-winning radio series, Wade in the Water, African American Sacred Music Traditions.[citation needed] Reagon claimed: "These days, I come as a 'songtalker', one who balances talk and song in the creation of a live performance conversation with those who gather within the sound of my voice."[20]

Reagon joined her first and only gospel choir when she was 11 years old, which was organized by her sister at the Mt. Early Baptist Church. She and the choir would listen to the local radio station WGPC to learn black gospel for the choir to recite. As a child, the Five Blind Guys was her favorite quartet. Reagon stated that her role models in terms of music are Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Bessie Jones, because they assisted her understanding of traditional singing and the fight for justice. Reagon also saw as important to her work Deacon Reardon, a historian studying African-American sacred worship traditions, and she stated that he impacted both her spiritual and musical development.[21]

Reagon's work as a scholar and composer was reflected in her publications on African-American culture and history, including: a collection of essays entitled If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me: The African American Sacred Song Tradition (University of Nebraska Press, 2001); We Who Believe In Freedom: Sweet Honey In The Rock: Still on the Journey (Anchor Books, 1993); and We'll Understand It Better By And By: Pioneering African American Gospel Composers (Smithsonian Press, 1992).

Reagon recorded several albums on Folkways Records, including Folk Songs: The South, Wade in the Water, and Lest We Forget, Vol. 3: Sing for Freedom.[22]

In 1973, Reagon founded a six-member, all-female a cappella group called Sweet Honey in the Rock. In addition to Reagon, the women in the original group were: Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Casle, Shirley Childress Johnson, Aisha Kahil, and Carol Maillard. The only instrument they used was their voices, along with shekere and tambourine. They have toured internationally, including to Europe, Japan, Mexico, and Australia. The group's fan base is of different ethnic backgrounds, religions, and sexual orientations. Reagon's musical roots came from the rural South Baptist Church. She advocated "music's informational and transformative power to ask" and the strong effects that music has had on the Civil Rights Movement.[citation needed]

Honors

Personal life

In 1963, she married Cordell Reagon, another member of The Freedom Singers.[26] Two children were born to this union: a daughter (Toshi), and a son (Kwan). Toshi is also a singer-songwriter.

Reagon died on July 16, 2024, at age 81.[27] Her death was confirmed by Courtland Cox, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's Legacy Project.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Freedom Singers". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  2. ^ "Albany Movement". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  3. ^ "Message from the Founder − Sweet Honey in the Rock®". Sweet Honey in the Rock. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2017. First public appearance of Sweet Honey In The Rock at Howard University's W.C. Handy Blues Festival. The group is Bernice Johnson Reagon, Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, and Mie.
  4. ^ Hayes, Eileen M. (October 1, 2010). Songs in Black and Lavender: Race, Sexual Politics, and Women's Music. University of Illinois Press. p. 66. ISBN 9780252091490.
  5. ^ a b Giddings, Paula J. (October 6, 2009). When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America. Harper Collins. p. 279. ISBN 9780061984921.
  6. ^ Harris, Norman (1988). Connecting Times: The Sixties in Afro-American Fiction. Jackson and London: Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 136–7. ISBN 9781617033704. albany singing movement paula giddings.
  7. ^ a b "Bernice Johnson Reagon: Civil Rights song leader". Smithsonian Folkways. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  8. ^ "Bernice Johnson Reagon: Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  9. ^ "Bernice Johnson Reagon". Americans Who Tell The Truth. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  10. ^ Reagon, Bernice Johnson (2001). "If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me". University of Nebraska Press. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  11. ^ "Emeritus Faculty with the History Department at American University". www.american.edu. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  12. ^ "Bernice Johnson Reagon in residence". Stanford University. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  13. ^ "Bernice Johnson Reagon on Freedom Fighting". Berklee College of Music. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  14. ^ "Bernice Johnson Reagon, US civil rights activist and singer, dies aged 81". The Guardian. July 18, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d "Interview with Bernice Johnson Reagon". Eyes on The Prize Interviews. Interviewed by Chris Lee. Blackside Inc. 1900. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Hatfield, Edward A. (November 28, 2007). "Bernice Johnson Reagon". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  17. ^ "Bernice Johnson Reagon on 'This Little Light of Mine'". BillMoyers.com. May 3, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  18. ^ a b c d Ida, Jones. "Guide to the Bernice Johnson Reagon Collection of the African American Sacred Music Tradition, circa 1822–1994". Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  19. ^ "Bernice Johnson Reagon". MacArthur Foundation. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  20. ^ Reagon, Bernice Johnson. "Bernice Reagon". Facebook. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  21. ^ Reagon, Bernice Johnson (1942). If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder me The African American Sacred Song tradition. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 100–140. ISBN 1-280-51030-7. Retrieved March 7, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ Bernice Johnson Reagon Discography on Folkways[permanent dead link]. Folkways.si.edu. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  23. ^ "Chronicle". The New York Times. June 26, 1991.
  24. ^ The Heinz Awards, Bernice Johnson Reagon profile Archived October 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Heinzawards.net. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  25. ^ https://college.berklee.edu/about/honorary-degree-recipients
  26. ^ Hopkinson, Natalie "Solid Rock". Archived from the original on March 16, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2016.. Crisis, The. Sep/Oct 2003
  27. ^ a b Gyimah-Brempong, Adwoa (July 17, 2024). "Bernice Johnson Reagon, a founder of The Freedom Singers and Sweet Honey in the Rock, has died". NPR. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  • Buffalo, Audreen. "Sweet Honey: A Cappella Activists". Ms 03 1993: 24. ProQuest. Web. May 17, 2014.
  • Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon 1999 Folk Alliance International Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient. Performer, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. Folk Alliance International, September 2, 2011. Web. May 12, 2014.
  • Reagon, Bernice J. "Bernice Johnson Reagon". Music: Freedom Singers. Songtalk Publishing. Web. May 13, 2014.
  • "Bernice Johnson Reagon." Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Institution, n.d. Web. May 16, 2014.