Editing Bernice Johnson Reagon (section)

===Music===
{{external media
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| video1 = [http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-151-0g3gx45d8p "Eyes on the Prize; Interview with Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon"] conducted in 1986 for the [[Eyes on the Prize]] documentary.}}

Reagon grew up in a church without a piano, so her early music was ''a cappella'', and her first instruments were her hands and feet, and she explained, "that's the only way I can deal comfortably with creating music." When Reagon spoke about her upbringing in the musical culture, she explained that even her early schooling was heavily involved with music, not just the church. Reagon said that her teacher would lead the students outside to play games that entailed singing with their hands and feet, as well as their voices. There were also competitions among the students, and Reagon won first place as a child when running against the older students reciting [[Langston Hughes]]' poem "I've Known Rivers".<ref name="''Eyes on The Prize'': America's Civil Rights Years (1954–1965)" />

Reagon was a specialist in [[African-American]] oral history, performance and protest traditions. She served as music consultant, producer, composer, and performer on several award-winning film projects, notably [[PBS]] television productions such as ''[[Eyes on the Prize]]'' (1987) (in which she also appeared) and [[Ken Burns]]' ''[[The Civil War (TV series)|The Civil War]]'' (1990). Reagon was also featured in a film, ''We Shall Overcome'', which was about the song and its placement in the movement, being produced by Ginger Records and made by Henry Hampton, the creator of ''Eyes on The Prize''.<ref>{{cite web|author=American Experience|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-music-civil-rights-movement|title=Music in the Civil Rights Movement|publisher=OPB.org|access-date=July 26, 2024}}</ref> She was the conceptual producer and narrator of the [[Peabody Award]]-winning radio series, ''Wade in the Water, African American Sacred Music Traditions''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Peabody: Stories that Matter|url=https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/wade-in-the-water-african-american-sacred-music-traditions/|title=Wade in the Water: African-American Sacred Music Traditions|publisher=Peabody Awards|access-date=July 26, 2024}}</ref> Reagon claimed: "These days, I come as a 'songtalker', one who balances talk and song in the creation of a live performance conversation with those who gather within the sound of my voice."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Reagon|first1=Bernice Johnson|url=https://www.facebook.com/Bernice-Johnson-Reagon-188881438633/|title=Bernice Reagon|website=Facebook|access-date=March 7, 2018}}</ref>

Reagon joined her first and only gospel choir when she was 11 years old, which was organized by her sister at the Mt. Early Baptist Church. She and the choir would listen to the local radio station [[WGPC]] to learn black gospel for the choir to recite. As a child, the Five Blind Guys was her favorite quartet. Reagon stated that her role models in terms of music are [[Harriet Tubman]], [[Sojourner Truth]], and [[Bessie Jones (American singer)|Bessie Jones]], because they assisted her understanding of traditional singing and the fight for justice. Reagon also saw as important to her work Deacon Reardon, a historian studying African-American sacred worship traditions, and she stated that he impacted both her spiritual and musical development.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reagon|first=Bernice Johnson|title=If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me: The African American Sacred Song Tradition |date=2001 |location=Lincoln |publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=9780803289833 |pages=100–140|url= |oclc=44413847}}</ref>

Reagon's work as a scholar and 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 Honey In The Rock: Still on the 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''.<ref>{{cite web|author=The Smithsonian Folkways Records|url=https://folkways.si.edu/bernice-johnson-reagon/folk-songs-of-the-south/african-american-music-gospel-historical-song/album/smithsonian|title=Bernice Reagon: Folk Songs|publisher=Smithsonian|access-date=July 26, 2024}}</ref>

In 1973, Reagon founded a six-member, all-female ''[[a cappella]]'' group called [[Sweet Honey in the Rock]]. In addition to Reagon, the original 4 women in the group were: Bernice Johnson Reagon, Louise Robinson, [[Carol Lynn Maillard]], Mie Fredericks. The only instrument they used was their voices, along with shekere and tambourine. They have toured internationally, including to Europe, Japan, Mexico, and Australia. The group's fan base is of different ethnic backgrounds, religions, and sexual orientations. Reagon's musical roots came from the rural South Baptist Church. She advocated "music's informational and transformative power to ask" and the strong effects that music has had on the Civil Rights Movement.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}