The first job I had with the Smithsonian was as a field researcher among African American communities in Southwest Louisiana and Arkansas for the festival. Bernice Johnson Reagon africanamericanarkansas Change image and share on social
I organized Sweet Honey In The Rock in 1973. The music was sanity and balance. Bernice Johnson Reagon balancehoneymusic Change image and share on social
Well, the first time I ran into the term religion, people were asking whether you had any. You know, some people had religion and some people didn't have religion. Bernice Johnson Reagon peoplereligionrun Change image and share on social
Personally I discovered that you could go through the academy as a young scholar, come out, and almost immediately have an impact on the academic environment. Bernice Johnson Reagon academicacademydiscover Change image and share on social
I learned that if you bring black people together, you bring them together with a song. To this day, I don't understand how people think they can bring anybody together without a song. Bernice Johnson Reagon blackbringday Change image and share on social
I think the Civil Rights Movement changed that trajectory for me. The first thing I did was leave school. I was suspended for my participation in Movement demonstrations in my hometown, December, 1961. Bernice Johnson Reagon changecivildecember share on social
I just don't think one person has that much to contribute to any subject. Bernice Johnson Reagon contributepersonsubject Change image and share on social
I went to a church where you could not sing out loud in the service until you had been saved. Bernice Johnson Reagon churchloudsave Change image and share on social
The Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, actually, was an effort to put something on the mall in Washington so American tourists could walk through America, and in their minds everything on the mall would be American. Bernice Johnson Reagon americaamericaneffort share on social
One of the biggest things I understood in a program like that was that it allowed more young African American scholars to do field research in the Caribbean and in Africa than had ever happened before in the history of the country and since. Bernice Johnson Reagon africaafricanallow share on social