Bernice Johnson Reagon dead at 81: Singer and US civil rights activist spoke out about racism

Bernice Johnson Reagon’s daughter Toshi Reagon posted a tribute to her mother on Facebook and it began with a quote from her mum which read: “I was here before I came and when I die, I am not leaving…” Toshi Reagon then went on to say that “Dr. Reagon spent over half a century speaking out against racism and systemic inequities in the U.S and globally.”

Toshi Reagon also said in her tribute to her mum that “Dr Reagon has received countless awards and honors for her pioneering work as a scholar and artist, including the Heinz Award for Women in the Arts and Humanities, the Leeway National Award for Women in the Arts, the Presidential Medal for contribution to public understanding of the Humanities, the MacARthur Foundation Genius Award and the Peabody award for the groundbreaking Wade in the Water series (NPR/Smithsonian Folkways).”

Toshi Reagon’s Facebook tribute has (at the time of writing) received over a 1000 comments and 3.9K shares. One fan said: “Words cannot express what a profound impact your mother’s work and life had on the world and all our lives. We drive with you and honor you and your family now and always,” whilst another wrote that “I am so sorry for this news. Your mom gave each so many gifts. I am so glad she was here, so glad you had her in your life, so glad she shared her gifts with us. And so thankful for the memories she gave us.”

Bernice Johnson Reagon was born in Dougherty County, outside of Albany, Georgia, USA. She was the third child of Rev Jessie Johnson and Beatrice Johnson. In 1973, she founded Sweet Honey in the Rock, an internationally renowned cappella group of African American women and led the group until she retired in 2003. 

The Washington Post reported that “She was only 19, a student at Albany State College, when the Albany movement began in November 1961, but she soon gained a reputation as a gifted organiser and performer, going to jail for her activism and singing spirituals and protest songs that fortified her colleagues in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC.”

As well as being a singer and civil rights activist, Bernice Johnson Reagon was also an author and detailed the history of the group Sweet Honey in the Rock in the book We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey in the Rock, Still on the Journey, back in 1993. 

According to Rolling Stone, “Along with her musical pursuits, Johnson Reagon joined the Smithsonian in 1974, where she worked in the Division of Performing Arts/African Diaspora Project as a Cultural Historian. There, she developed two major projects: Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions, a radio series, and Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs, 1960-66. Johnson Reagon won the Peabody Award for Wade in the Water.”