Personally I discovered that you could go through the academy as a young scholar, come out, and almost immediately have an impact on the academic environment.

Quote by Bernice Johnson Reagon

Topics: Bernice Johnson Reagon Quotes

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 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 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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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 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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...