It makes sense that whatever the topic is, it's more compelling if you can provide the audience with a range of perspectives, and you can cross disciplines. And you don't have to control what people take out of it.

Quote by Bernice Johnson Reagon

Topics: Bernice Johnson Reagon Quotes

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.

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 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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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 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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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....