Quotes by Bernice Johnson Reagon

Bernice Johnson Reagon

American composer, scholar, and social activist

Lived from: 1942 -

Category: Music | Politics | Scientists

Born: 4 october 1942

Quotes 1 till 20 of 20.

  • And I used to think that proof that I had religion was whether I knew how to sing all of the songs.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • At the same time all this was happening, there was a folk song revival movement goingon, so the commercial music industry was actually changed by the Civil Rights Movement.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • But I'm a historian. I wasn't interested in just being a producer, I was interested in doing research and presenting that research to a general public.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • If every moment is sacred, and If you are amazed and in awe most of the time when you find yourself breathing and not crazy, then you are in a state of constant thankfulness, worship and humility.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • If I had been at a University I don't think I would have been able to have the experience I had in my Smithsonian work. I don't think I have been as successful.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • In fact when Sweet Honey was ten years old it was too big for me to run, and I knew it, but I ran it for another thirteen years because I couldn't convince other people to really do it. And this year, I'm not running it.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • 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.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • Most people come out of their Ph.D. experience trying to prove themselves, trying to get ahead, trying to get published. You're scared everybody else is going to do your research and get your topic.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • One of the biggest things I understood in a program like that was that it allowed more young African American scholars to do field research in the Caribbean and in Africa than had ever happened before in the history of the country and since.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • 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.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • So one of the things that happened with integration in the South is they found that the black teachers were much more educated than the white teachers.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • The first job I had with the Smithsonian was as a field researcher among African American communities in Southwest Louisiana and Arkansas for the festival.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • The Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, actually, was an effort to put something on the mall in Washington so American tourists could walk through America, and in their minds everything on the mall would be American.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • The voice I have now, I got the first time I sang in a movement meeting, after I got out of jail... and I'd never heard it before in my life.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • There is nowhere you can go and only be with people who are like you. Give it up.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • Today whenever women gather together it is not necessarily nurturing. It is coalition building. And if you feel the strain, you may be doing some good work.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • Well, the first time I ran into the term religion, people were asking whether you had any. You know, some people had religion and some people didn't have religion.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • When I started graduate school I was interested in the culture of the Civil Rights Movement.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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  • When the culture is strong, you've got this consistency where black people can grow up in these places with this voice just resonating about our special-ness in the universe. And I always say you're in trouble if you get too far away from that core that grounds you.
    ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
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Questions and Answers

What are the most famous quotes from Bernice Johnson Reagon?

The two most famous quotes from Bernice Johnson Reagon are:

  • "And I used to think that proof that I had religion was whether I knew how to sing all of the songs."
  • "At the same time all this was happening, there was a folk song revival movement goingon, so the commercial music industry was actually changed by the Civil Rights Movement."

When did Bernice Johnson Reagon live?

Bernice Johnson Reagon is still alive and was born in 1942.