Barnard
Medal of Distinction Citation for Bernice Reagon
Bernice
Reagon, singer, composer, cultural historian,
curator, distinguished professor of history, you
know well that there is much to be done in this
imperfect world.
Almost
thirty years ago, you founded Sweet Honey in the
Rock, an a capella women's group growing out of
the civil rights movement of the 60's, with roots
in gospel, jazz, blues, reggae, and rap. Many
tours and recordings later, you still perform
solo and with the group. The impact of both the
music and the lyrics on a worldwide audience can
hardly be overestimated, for Sweet Honey chronicles
each new social blight, exhorting, empowering,
and, as Alice Walker once said, inoculating "against
disease of racist and sexist selfishness, envy,
and greed."
Even
as you composed, wrote, and performed, you were
earning a Ph.D. in history at Howard and working
as a cultural historian at the Smithsonian, becoming
a curator and heading projects focusing on "Voices
of the Civil Rights Movement" and on the history
of African American sacred song and worship traditions.
You also added a history professorship to your
multi-tasking life. And you served as consultant,
composer, and performer for a number of film and
video projects, including the PBS programs "Eyes
on the Prize" and "We Shall Overcome."
Many
and varied honors have come your way. A mere sampling
reveals a Grammy, an Emmy, a Peabody, the Isadora
Duncan award for a ballet score, a Presidential
Medal: the Charles Frankel Prize from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, The Leeway Laurel
for achievement in the arts, and a MacArthur Fellowship.
And that is just "so far!" You are "Still on the
Journey."
.jpg)
