“The Songs Are Free: Bernice Johnson Reagon and African-American Music” Video

June is African American Music Appreciation Month! Teens and adults are invited to our showing of “The Songs Are Free: Bernice Johnson Reagon and African American Music.” The showing is free and registration is not required. Snacks are welcome!

“In this program, Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of the musical group Sweet Honey in the Rock, and curator of the Community Life Division of the Smithsonian Institution, discusses with Bill Moyers how black music has shaped the African-American experience and identity. Reagon traces the role of early spirituals rooted in the black church to their inspirational use in the early Civil Rights movement. Live musical performances, educational workshops, and archival footage of Reagon and noted Civil Rights leaders are included. Reagon’s work with Sweet Honey in the Rock is shown as continuing the tradition of black music as a source of resistance, courage, and pride, as well as determination and faith. (58 minutes)”

Description provided by Infobase.