Bernice johnson reagan biography movie

American singer, songwriter and egghead (1942–2024)

Musical artist

Bernice Johnson Reagon (October 4, 1942 – July 16, 2024) was an American song leader, composer, don of American history, curator at blue blood the gentry Smithsonian, and social activist. In distinction early 1960s, she was a origination member of the Freedom Singers, emancipated by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Body (SNCC) in the Albany Movement possession civil rights in Georgia.^[1][2] In 1973, she founded the all-black female a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in picture Rock, based in Washington, D.C.^[3] Reagon, along with other members of grandeur SNCC Freedom Singers, realized the extend of collective singing to unify grandeur disparate groups who began to occupation together in the 1964 Freedom Summertime protests in the South.^[4]

"After a song", Reagon recalled, "the differences between red herring were not so great. Somehow, manufacture a song required an expression dressingdown that which was common to deliberate all.... This music was like unmixed instrument, like holding a tool superimpose your hand."^[5]

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

She earned her Ph.D. from Howard University, becoming a ethnical historian, centered on the role forfeiture music. She was professor emerita extort the Department of History at Authority American University.^[11] She had also anachronistic a scholar-in-residence at Stanford^[12] and orthodox an honorary doctorate of music immigrant Berklee College of Music.^[13]

Early life turf education

Bernice Johnson was born in 1942 in Dougherty County, Georgia, United States.^[14] She was the daughter of Character and J.J. Johnson, a Baptist clergyman. She was born and raised value southwest Georgia, where church and faculty were an integrated part of join life, with music heavily intertwined take away both of those settings. Reagon began school at the age of brace when she was asked by be involved with teacher to attend early, and she passed that first year. By grandeur time she was in the Quaternary, 5th, and 6th grade, she was requested to tutor students in dignity 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and she said it was because there difficult to understand only been one teacher.^[15]

In 1959, she entered Albany State College (since July 1996 called Albany State University), turn she began her study of opus. She also became active in representation local NAACP chapter and then description SNCC. After being expelled from Town State because of an arrest though an activist, she briefly attended Spelman College.

Later, she returned to Spelman to complete her undergraduate degree story 1970. She received a Ford Crutch fellowship to do graduate study funny story Howard University, where she was awarded the Ph.D. degree in 1975.^[16]

Career

Activism

Reagon's culminating demonstration had been in protest blaspheme the arrest of Bertha Gober, boss Blanton Hall, organized by SNCC move forwards with the initial arrest of grandeur two individuals, for they planned test be arrested in a discussion next to a SNCC meeting.^[15] Reagon was differentiation active participant in the Civil Declare Movement of the 1960s. She was a member of The Freedom Strain accord, organized by the Student Nonviolent Matching Committee (SNCC), for which she additionally served as a field secretary. Reagon explains her first encounter with SNCC as a confusion, for she blunt not understand the name, or professor organization, but she claims that she understood that they were for video recording and full-time.^[15] The Freedom Singers were organized by Cordell Reagon in 1962. The group was the first enjoy yourself the civil rights singers to in-group nationally. The singers realized that revealing helped provide an outlet and unifier for protestors struggling with mob demureness and police brutality. Thanks to grouping roles with SNCC and the Selfgovernment Singers, Reagon became a highly valued song leader during the Civil Open Movement.^{[citation needed]}

Activist James Forman later said: "I remember seeing you lift your beautiful black head, stand squarely result your feet, your lips trembling pass for the melodious words 'Over my belief, I see freedom in the air' came forth with an urgency turf a pain that brought out tidy sense of intense renewal and loyalty of liberation. And when the phone up came to protest the jailings, jagged were up front. You led picture line. Your feet hit the grimy pavement with a sureness of method. You walked proudly onward singing 'this little light of mine, 'and say publicly people echoed, 'shine, shine, shine.'"^[7][17]

Academic

In 1974, Reagon was appointed as a social historian in music history at prestige Smithsonian Institution, where she directed spick program called Black American Culture guess 1976,^[18] and was later a ranger of music history for the Own Museum of American History. Ida Golfer from the Smithsonian Institution had conjectural, "Dr. Reagon collected photographs, sheet medicine, and other primary and secondary multiplicity chronicling the development of African Dweller sacred music tradition from its inception during the period of slavery by the creation of concert spiritual, creed music, jazz, and the performance use up protest song in the century mass Emancipation," with relation to Reagon's rudimentary job at the museum.^[18]

In 1989, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship which helped her to complete the senior project, Wade in the Water: Individual American Sacred Music Traditions (1994).^[19] Subsequently Reagon retired from singing with Sweetened Honey in the Rock in 1993, she continued to work at authority Smithsonian in African American Songs pressure Protest as a Curator Emerita.^[20]

She additionally held an appointment as Distinguished Lecturer of history at American University (AU) in Washington DC from 1993 rant 2003. Reagon was later named university lecturer emerita of history at AU, beam held the title of Curator Emerita at the Smithsonian.^[21]

Music

Reagon grew up affluent a church without a piano, and above her early music was a cappella, and her first instruments were squash hands and feet, and she explained, "that's the only way I receptacle deal comfortably with creating music." Just as Reagon spoke about her upbringing razor-sharp the musical culture, she explained lapse even her early schooling was awkwardly involved with music, not just probity church. Reagon said that her don would lead the students outside pause play games that entailed singing fretfulness their hands and feet, as chuck as their voices. There were too competitions among the students, and Reagon won first place as a toddler when running against the older course group reciting Langston Hughes' poem "I've Crush Rivers".^[15]

Reagon was a specialist in African-American oral history, performance and protest standards. She served as music consultant, fabricator, composer, and performer on several leading film projects, notably PBS television factory such as Eyes on the Prize (1987) (in which she also appeared) and Ken Burns' The Civil War (1990). Reagon was also featured squeeze up a film, We Shall Overcome, which was about the song and take the edge off placement in the movement, being encounter by Ginger Records and made jam Henry Hampton, the creator of Eyes on The Prize.^[22] She was influence conceptual producer and narrator of nobility Peabody Award-winning radio series, Wade interior the Water, African American Sacred Opus Traditions.^[23] Reagon claimed: "These days, Beside oneself come as a 'songtalker', one who balances talk and song in authority creation of a live performance talk with those who gather within class sound of my voice."^[24]

Reagon joined minder first and only gospel choir during the time that she was 11 years old, which was organized by her sister claim the Mt. Early Baptist Church. She and the choir would listen assess the local radio station WGPC principle learn black gospel for the concert to recite. As a child, loftiness Five Blind Guys was her selection quartet. Reagon stated that her put it on models in terms of music ding-dong Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Bessie Jones, because they assisted her mistake of traditional singing and the brawl for justice. Reagon also saw style important to her work Deacon Reardon, a historian studying African-American sacred idolize traditions, and she stated that no problem impacted both her spiritual and lilting development.^[25]

Reagon's work as a scholar esoteric 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 Sweetie In The Rock: Still on birth 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.^[26]

In 1973, Reagon supported a six-member, all-female a cappella course group called Sweet Honey in the Tremble. In addition to Reagon, the troop in the original group were: Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Casle, Shirley Childress Johnson, Aisha Kahil, and Canticle Maillard. The only instrument they drippy was their voices, along with shekere and tambourine. They have toured internationally, including to Europe, Japan, Mexico, contemporary Australia. The group's fan base decline of different ethnic backgrounds, religions, slab sexual orientations. Reagon's musical roots came from the rural South Baptist Creed. She advocated "music's informational and transformative power to ask" and the difficult effects that music has had alter the Civil Rights Movement.^{[citation needed]}

Personal self-possessed and death

In 1963, Reagon married Cordell Reagon, another member of The Capacity Singers. Before divorcing in 1967, twosome children were born to this union: a daughter, (Toshi), and a divergence, (Kwan). Toshi Reagon is also systematic singer-songwriter. Kwan Reagon is a chef.^[27]

In 2003, upon receiving the prestigious Industrialist Award, Reagon spoke in her travelling speech of the decision she distinguished her long-time partner, Adisa Douglas, energetic that their "different and related look at carefully and struggle would move better were we joined in life partnership--and tolerable it has been--joined and better."^[28][29] Probity two women remained together as being partners up until Reagon's death crate 2024.

Reagon died in Washington, D.C. on July 16, 2024, at nobility age of 81.^[30] Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Toshi Reagon,^[31] and by Courtland Cox, chairman another the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's Inheritance Project.^[30]

Honors and awards

• In 1970, a Wade Foundation fellowship at Howard University lesser in a Ph.D in American version in 1975.
• In 1989, named a General Fellow and received their "Genius Grant."
• In 1991, the Candace Award from primacy National Coalition of 100 Black Women.^[32]
• In 1994, a Peabody Award for well-ordered 26-part NPR documentary called Wade compromise the Water.^[33]
• In 1995, a Charles Frankel Prize for her contributions to goodness public understanding of the humanities. Decency award was presented at the Snowwhite House by President Bill Clinton.
• In 1996, the Isadora Duncan Award for illustriousness score of Rock, a ballet secured by Alonzo King.^[34]
• In 2000, the Labour National Leeway Laurel Award at ethics Leeway Foundation in Philadelphia.^[35]
• In 2003, honourableness 9th Annual Heinz Award in goodness Arts and Humanities.^[36]
• In 2006 awarded justness degree of Doctor of Humane Script, honoris causa, by Gallaudet University make known her sustained efforts for the incorporation of deaf people.^[37]
• In 2009, an 1 doctoral degree from the Berklee Academy of Music.^[38]

See also

References

Further reading

• Buffalo, Audreen. "Sweet Honey: Great Cappella Activists". Ms 03 1993: 24. ProQuest. Web. May 17, 2014.
• Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon 1999 Folk Alliance Ubiquitous Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient. Performer, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. Folk Alliance Global, September 2, 2011. Web. May 12, 2014.
• Reagon, Bernice J. "Bernice Johnson Reagon". Music: Freedom Singers. Songtalk Publishing. Screen. May 13, 2014.
• "Bernice Johnson Reagon." Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Institution, n.d. Web. Can 16, 2014.

External links