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Bernice Johnson Reagon

Born 1949(Dougherty City, GA.)


By Sandra Brennan (allmusic.com)

Though perhaps most widely known as the founder and guiding force of the Washington, D.C.-based women's group Sweet Honey in the Rock, Bernice Johnson Reagon is also a noted political activist, a Distinguished Professor at Washington's American University and a curator emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution. She also occasionally records solo albums. During the '60s she was a founder of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee Freedom Singers. Before founding Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1973, she was the vocal director of the D.C. Black Repertory Theater. Early musical inspirations for Reagon include the gospel music she heard while attending the Black American Baptist Church; the harmonies that surrounded her became the basis for those of her famous group. To Reagon, music is a means for affecting change in society, instilling a sense of heritage and cultural pride, and creating solidarity in the face of adversity, uniting people while simultaneously celebrating their differences. In addition to performing with Sweet Honey in the Rock, writing songs, teaching, and working as curator, she also writes books and makes videos.

Give Your Hands to Struggle© Smithsonian Folkway, 1997


1. "We've Come a Long Way to Be Together"
2. "There's a New World Coming"
3. "Room in the Circle"
4. "Old Ship of Zion"
5. "Why Did They Take Us Away"
6. "In My Hands"
7. "Joan Little"
8. "They Are Falling All Around Me"
9. "Freedom in the Air"
10. "I Won't Crumble With You If You Fall"
11. "Had, Took, Misled"
12. "Give Your Hands to Struggle"

Folk Songs: The South © Smithsonian Folkways, 1965


1. "Cotton Need A Pickin'"
2. "Hallelu"
3. "Go Tell Aunt Rhody"
4. "Come An' Go With Me To That Land"
5. "Ol' Po' Sinner"
6. "Sun Will Never Go Down"
7. "Amazing Grace"
8. "Aint It A Shame"
9. "Drinking of the Wine"
10. "Grey Goose"
11. "Come By Hyar"
12. "Been In The Storm"
13. "Cane On The Brazos "
14. "Soon My Work"





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This page updated June 5, 2005 by Adrian Carter.