I think the Civil Rights Movement changed that trajectory for me. The first thing I did was leave school. I was suspended for my participation in Movement demonstrations in my hometown, December, 1961.

Quote by Bernice Johnson Reagon

Topics: Bernice Johnson Reagon Quotes

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 first job I had with the Smithsonian was as a field researcher among African...

The first job I had with the Smithsonian was as a field researcher among African...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...