Bernice Johnson Reagon (1942-2024)
July 23, 2024 1:29 PM Subscribe
"It is impossible to separate freedom struggles from song." Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of the Freedom Singers and acclaimed music group Sweet Honey in the Rock, is among the ancestors now. What a tremendous legacy she leaves behind.
On her roots in the Movement, from the Billboard obit:“I was already in jail, so I missed most of that [MLK's 1961 arrest],” she told WHYY’s Fresh Air in 1988. “But what they began to write about… no matter what the article said, they talked about singing.” Those revamped church songs, which Reagon would say often swapped “freedom” in for “Jesus,” as well as her activism got the singer expelled from Albany state after her arrest for protesting. That led to Reagon founding the a cappella Freedom Singers in 1962, whose songs often served as a record of the civil rights struggle, from tributes to fallen leaders (“They Laid Medgar Evers in His Grave”), to a revamp of the movement’s anthem, “We Shall Overcome” and “Free At Last,”. Her daughter Toshi Reagon's post on facebook (linked in the Billboard piece; see also Tulani Kinard's post) are worth reading, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture also released a statement.
On her roots in the Movement, from the Billboard obit:“I was already in jail, so I missed most of that [MLK's 1961 arrest],” she told WHYY’s Fresh Air in 1988. “But what they began to write about… no matter what the article said, they talked about singing.” Those revamped church songs, which Reagon would say often swapped “freedom” in for “Jesus,” as well as her activism got the singer expelled from Albany state after her arrest for protesting. That led to Reagon founding the a cappella Freedom Singers in 1962, whose songs often served as a record of the civil rights struggle, from tributes to fallen leaders (“They Laid Medgar Evers in His Grave”), to a revamp of the movement’s anthem, “We Shall Overcome” and “Free At Last,”. Her daughter Toshi Reagon's post on facebook (linked in the Billboard piece; see also Tulani Kinard's post) are worth reading, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture also released a statement.
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posted by whatevernot at 1:41 PM on July 23
posted by whatevernot at 1:41 PM on July 23
Oh, this hurts my heart. I am sure other voices will fill the space left, and the Song will continue. But I will deeply feel the absence of Her presence and Her voice: it is intimately tied to my own shared expressions of love.
Rest in song. Thank you for what you shared here.
posted by Silvery Fish at 1:42 PM on July 23 [2 favorites]
Rest in song. Thank you for what you shared here.
posted by Silvery Fish at 1:42 PM on July 23 [2 favorites]
Thanks for posting this. I’m lucky to have heard Sweet Honey in the Rock a couple of times. She will be missed.
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posted by theora55 at 1:43 PM on July 23
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posted by theora55 at 1:43 PM on July 23
They performed at the Borders Books where I worked when I was in my early twenties. People were losing their minds for weeks in advance, but I didn't think they were going to be my kind of thing. (I was deeply into The Pogues, and music that either influenced or flowed from The Pogues.) But their power was undeniable, and I fell completely in love.
And after that, for as long as I worked there, the best way to turn sorting-and-receiving in the back room into a spontaneous dance party was to put on Sweet Honey in the Rock.
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posted by palmcorder_yajna at 1:45 PM on July 23 [5 favorites]
And after that, for as long as I worked there, the best way to turn sorting-and-receiving in the back room into a spontaneous dance party was to put on Sweet Honey in the Rock.
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posted by palmcorder_yajna at 1:45 PM on July 23 [5 favorites]
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posted by misteraitch at 2:03 PM on July 23
posted by misteraitch at 2:03 PM on July 23
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posted by gentlyepigrams at 2:06 PM on July 23
posted by gentlyepigrams at 2:06 PM on July 23
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posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:58 PM on July 23
posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:58 PM on July 23
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posted by limeonaire at 4:43 PM on July 23
posted by limeonaire at 4:43 PM on July 23
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posted by ourobouros at 5:01 PM on July 23
posted by ourobouros at 5:01 PM on July 23
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Wanting Memories has always brought me to tears, but even more so now.
posted by sleepingwithcats at 5:49 PM on July 23 [1 favorite]
Wanting Memories has always brought me to tears, but even more so now.
posted by sleepingwithcats at 5:49 PM on July 23 [1 favorite]
Alla that's all right but... One of my favorite songs of theirs, from a June Jordan poem.
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posted by gingerbeer at 9:52 PM on July 23
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posted by gingerbeer at 9:52 PM on July 23
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posted by TwoStride at 1:30 PM on July 23 [1 favorite]