Bernice Johnson Reagon
| Bernice Johnson Reagon | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bernice Johnson |
| Born | October 4, 1942 |
| Origin |
Dougherty County, Georgia United States |
| Genres | A cappella |
| Occupation(s) | singer, songwriter, scholar |
| Instruments | vocals |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Associated acts | Sweet Honey in the Rock, Toshi Reagon |
| Website | bernicejohnsonreagon.com |
Bernice Johnson Reagon (born Bernice Johnson on October 4, 1942) is a song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist, who was a founding member of the SNCC Freedom Singers in the Albany Movement. in Georgia. In 1973 she founded the all-black female a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, based in Washington, D.C. 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 and is an emeritus faculty member in the History Department at The American University. She has also been a scholar-in-residence at Stanford and received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.
Bernice Johnson was the daughter of Beatrice and J.J. Johnson, a Baptist minister. She was born and raised in southwest Georgia, where music was an integral part of life. She entered Albany State College in 1959 (since July 1996 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.
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