Bernice Johnson Reagon’s life offers us lessons to navigate an unjust world and work toward change. From her role as a Civil Rights activist to her transformative curatorial position at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Reagon demonstrated how songs and musical traditions, particularly those of the oppressed and marginalized, can transform the world.
Camille "Mimi" Borders, GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellow
:focal(600x340:601x341)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/95/7b/957b7b47-ccb4-4a34-b47c-3952aae7f7c5/bernice_johnson_reagon_feature.jpg)
:focal(250x250:251x251)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/ff/39/ff39e49e-9ac4-4360-ae2b-3f81f0d881de/sjmo-2023.jpg)
:focal(400x282:401x283)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/fe/54/fe54c024-07cc-467b-ad89-c00e409bef6c/ga22445_2010-1512.jpg)
:focal(400x139:401x140)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/69/67/69670dd7-f5ad-4fab-82e5-b8af11199943/jn2020-00309_bat_narrow.jpg)
:focal(400x259:401x260)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/b1/99/b199aee8-5fe8-4dc2-83ef-b6e96e35ba6e/ma325565_nmah-rws2022-00083_side.jpg)
:focal(275x182:276x183)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/blogging/featured/Sept_11_6.jpg)
