I came out of the Civil Rights Movement, and I had a different kind of focus than most people who have just the academic background as their primary training experience.

Quote by Bernice Johnson Reagon

Topics: Bernice Johnson Reagon Quotes

The Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, actually, was an effort to put something on the...

The Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, actually, was an effort to put something on the...

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 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...

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...

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....

I just don't think one person has that much to contribute to any subject.

I just don't think one person has that much to contribute to any subject.

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...

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...

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...

Personally I discovered that you could go through the academy as a young scholar, come...

Personally I discovered that you could go through the academy as a young scholar, come...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...