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The
beginning of Sweet Honey In The Rock is
discovered in the life and times of Bernice
Johnson Reagon, the founding and only
consistent member of the group. To be fair,
all of the twenty-one former and current
members are Sweet Honey, for Sweet Honey is
the musical embodiment of the spirit of
freedom whose roots go back to Africa, were
nurtured by slavery, the Jubilee and the
continuing struggles to realize that
freedom. You must understand that Sweet
Honey is a true community. Bernice is quoted
saying, "I feel Sweet Honey as a woman
with a single voice created out of many
voices and when we walk off the stage, she
really isn't there." None the less that
single voice does have a beginning.
In 1973 Bernice Johnson Reagon was the vocal
director of the DC Black Repertory Theater
Company in Washington, DC. She had been
singing since her childhood, in no small
part due to the fact that her father was a
Baptist minister in the rural town of
Albany, Georgia. She was attending Albany
State College, singing in the choir and
studying Italian arias and German lieder as
a contralto soloist, when the first march of
the movement, which became known as the
Albany Movement, occurred in December of
1961. In jail she discovered the spirit
sustaining power of song and became a leader
of the Civil Rights Movement, ultimately
becoming a member of the original Student
Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Freedom Singers. As a Freedom Singer she
traveled the country, teaching the songs of
the movement ("We Shall Not Be
Moved") and also songs learned from the
churches of her youth which so often dealt
with the subject of freedom denied. With her
background it was no surprise that she
formed Sweet Honey, to continue that ongoing
inspirational work, with members of her
workshop at the Repertory Theater Company,
in 1973. The first song that the original
group learned was "Sweet Honey In The
Rock," a song from her youth based on a
religious parable. It was felt that the
image was a suitable metaphor for
African-American women; strong as a rock,
sweet as honey. In the Spring of l975 Sweet
Honey was performing at the Folk Festival at
the University of Chicago when they were
offered and agreed to a record for Flying
Fish Records. Their first release was
followed by one for Redwood Records, then
back with Flying Fish for many more.
Through out the years Sweet Honey has been
inspiring audiences and receiving awards for
their musical virtuosity such as the Grammy
in l988 in the category of Best Traditional
Folk Recording for their version of
Leadbelly's "Grey Goose" from the
album Folkways, A Vision Shared. They've
also been awarded countless CARA first and
runner up awards. Though there has never
been an award, that we know of, for best
sign language interpretation of song, there
should be. Shirley Childress Johnson
discovered within herself the expressive
balletic capacity to sign songs with the
power and beauty of the singing members, and
has been doing so since 1980. As a tribute
to Sweet Honey In The Rock, allow us to list
the other members, present and past, Louise
Robinson, Carol Maillard, Mie, Dianaruthe
Wharton, Evelyn Marie Harris, Rosie Lee
Hooks, Ayodele Harrington, Ingrid Ellis, Tia
Juana Starks, Patricia Johnson, Yasmeen
Williams, Laura Sharp, Tulani Jordan Kinard,
Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Helena Coleman,
Geraldine Hardin, Aisha Kahlil, Nitanju
Bolade Casel and Akua Opokuwaa.
For a final word here's Bernice. "We
are warriors. Our songs sounds and lyrics
give us stance - make clear the ground we
hold. We name through our singing the
territory of the expanding community we
sound. When you see our songs, you see the
tip of the mountain upon which we stand and
it is solid ground."
Members - Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Nitanju
Bolade Casel, Shirley Childress Johnson,
Aisha Kahlil, Carol Maillard, Bernice
Johnson Reagon
Saluting six phenomenal sistas! Sista
Circle Salutes Sweet Honey in the Rock!
For tour schedules, log onto www.sweethoney.com
TC
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