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.

Quote by Bernice Johnson Reagon

Topics: Bernice Johnson Reagon Quotes

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who...

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who...

I was at the Smithsonian for twenty years, and I'm still at the Smithsonian as...

I was at the Smithsonian for twenty years, and I'm still at the Smithsonian as...

I started graduate school in 1971, I started working at the Smithsonian in the festival...

I started graduate school in 1971, I started working at the Smithsonian in the festival...

There is nowhere you can go and only be with people who are like you....

There is nowhere you can go and only be with people who are like you....

It makes sense that whatever the topic is, it's more compelling if you can provide...

It makes sense that whatever the topic is, it's more compelling if you can provide...

I learned that if you bring black people together, you bring them together with a...

I learned that if you bring black people together, you bring them together with a...

If I had been at a University I don't think I would have been able...

If I had been at a University I don't think I would have been able...

The voice I have now, I got the first time I sang in a movement...

The voice I have now, I got the first time I sang in a movement...

At the same time all this was happening, there was a folk song revival movement...

At the same time all this was happening, there was a folk song revival movement...

So one of the things that happened with integration in the South is they found...

So one of the things that happened with integration in the South is they found...

Well, the first time I ran into the term religion, people were asking whether you...

Well, the first time I ran into the term religion, people were asking whether you...

I went to a church where you could not sing out loud in the service...

I went to a church where you could not sing out loud in the service...

One of the biggest things I understood in a program like that was that it...

One of the biggest things I understood in a program like that was that it...

I came out of the Civil Rights Movement, and I had a different kind of...

I came out of the Civil Rights Movement, and I had a different kind of...

Most people come out of their Ph.D. experience trying to prove themselves, trying to get...

Most people come out of their Ph.D. experience trying to prove themselves, trying to get...

I think the Civil Rights Movement changed that trajectory for me. The first thing I...

I think the Civil Rights Movement changed that trajectory for me. The first thing I...

And I used to think that proof that I had religion was whether I knew...

And I used to think that proof that I had religion was whether I knew...

But I'm a historian. I wasn't interested in just being a producer, I was interested...

But I'm a historian. I wasn't interested in just being a producer, I was interested...

In fact when Sweet Honey was ten years old it was too big for me...

In fact when Sweet Honey was ten years old it was too big for me...

When I started graduate school I was interested in the culture of the Civil Rights...

When I started graduate school I was interested in the culture of the Civil Rights...