Civil Rights Activist and Singer-Songwriter Bernice Johnson Reagon Understood the Power of Music

Bernice Johnson Reagon was multifaceted: a singer, songwriter, civil rights activist, historian, college professor, and documentarian.Born in Georgia during the dawning of the modern Civil Rights Movement, she recognized the power of music in activism and co-founded the Freedom Singers. The ensemble performed across the South and at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.In 1973, she formed another a cappella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock, which started as a quartet and expanded to five members with Reagon remaining until her retirement in 2004.She wrote "Ella's Song" in 1988 as a tribute to civil rights pioneer Ella Baker, who was active in the NAACP and other civil rights organizations.You can go here to watch Sweet Honey in the Rock perform "Ella's Song," and please check out the comments too. Here's a good one: "This group Sweet Honey in the Rock taught me the meaning of a cappella (without instruments) their harmony was amazing...It was a JOY to see them perform live. I sing this song when feeding the birds and they always respond!"Reagon's many accomplishments included earning a doctorate in 1975 and becoming a cultural historian at the Smithsonian Institution, focusing on music history. She also produced a 26-part series titled "Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions."The image in this video's thumbnail is a photo in the public domain of Reagon. It's available on Wikipedia.This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. Sheldon also created Song of the Day, which was a daily feature delivered to an email list of subscribers. He ended it in early 2026 which, I suppose, means that Song of the Day deserves a tribute of its own. The good thing is that the tributes to music makers live on. Each is a snapshot of the life of one individual whose work made an impact on the lives of many.Send us Fan MailThis is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.