Bernice Johnson Reagon at the Memorial Tribute for Octavia Butler (1947-2006) at New York Public Library, June 5, 2006. Reagon performed with her daughter Toshi Reagon at the tribute.

Current work

Past Appearances

Fri: April 30 @ 6:00 p.m.

Discovering Highlander and becoming ‘One’ in the number
A presentation by Bernice Johnson Reagon celebrating her 40-plus years of work with Highlander.
True Reformer Building, 1200 U Street NW, Washington, D.C., map
Fundraiser, general seating tickets: $100 per person and $25 per student with a student id
Tickets: online at Highlander Center
This event will be taped at broadcast quality for later distribution.

Thu: April 22 @ 6:00 p.m. RESCHEDULED DUE TO WEATHER

Bernice Johnson Reagon & Toshi Reagon in Dialogue & Concert
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI
Tickets: $10 Members / $15 non-members, $10 groups of 10 or more online
Information: (313) 494-5800

Fri-Sun: April 15-18

SNCC 50th Anniversary Conference
To commemorate the April, 1960 founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at Shaw University, Raleigh, NC
More information available by email.

Fri: April 9 @ 7:00 p.m.

Amnesty International Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA
Opening Plenary Session: Human Rights: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Panel: Bernice Johnson Reagon, Gloria Steinem

Thu: March 24 @ 7:30 p.m.

The Singing Culture of the Civil Rights Movement: A Sonic Force for Radical Transformation of Place and Person
University of South Carolina, Belk Auditorium, BA Building, Columbia, SC
Register online
Information: 803-777-0169

Sat: March 20 @ 7:30 p.m.

NJPAC Victoria Theater
Special Collaborative Performance: Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon

Fri: March 19

University of North Carolina, Ashville, NC
Bernice Johnson Reagon Keynote Presentation

Sat: March 13 @ 3:00 p.m. presentation

WomenSpeak Conference Redbird Foundation, Mobile, Alabama

Wed: February 24

University of PA, Philadelphia, PA
Women Studies: Women in the Civil Rights Movement

Fri-Sat: February 19-20

Rutgers University at Newark
Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series, two day conference featuring previous Wright Lecturers
Conference Theme: Laboring in the Vineyard: Scholarship and Citizenship

Thur: February 18, 2010

Berklee School of Music, Boston, MA
Roots and Reason Series
Special Collaborative Performance: Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon

Thur: February 11, 2010

Community College of Baltimore County, MD
Songs and Singing at the Center of the African American Struggle for Freedom

Tues: February 9, 2010

A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement
The New York Times review Wednesday, February 10, 2010:
“…Some of the songs sounded ready to accompany new struggles. Ms. Reagon led the Freedom Singers as a trio, wearing African-tinged choir robes and backed by her daughter Toshi on guitar. The Freedom Singers, who sang for rallies alongside Dr. King, are elderly now, but they tore into “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round” with fierce, jubilant call-and-response. Ms. Reagon paused the music partway through to instruct the audience.
“You have to actually sing this song,” she said. “You can never tell when you might need it.”
The concert was televised on February 11th at 8:00 p.m. ET on public broadcasting stations nationwide as part of WETA Washington, D.C.’s “In Performance at the White House” series. NPR will also produce a one-hour concert special from this event for broadcast nationwide on NPR Member stations throughout the month of February, beginning February 12th (check local listings). The special is also be available online.

Wed: February 3, 2010

Gettysburg College, Gettysburg PA
Selections from the Autobiography of a Freedom Singer
Black History Month Celebration

Fri: January 15, 2010

Seattle Community College
36th Annual Martin Luther King Jr Community Program
Keynote Speaker: The Reason I Sing This Song: Singing as the Communal Voice of the Civil Rights Movement
Mt Zion Baptist Church, Seattle Washington

Tues: November 17, 2009 @ 7:30 p.m.

Music of the Movement: A Sustaining Voice, A conversation about the music of the Civil Rights era
Performing Arts Center, Montgomery College – Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, 7995 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring
Tickets: The program is free, however registration is required. Register online or call 410-685-0095 on or after October 15, 2009.

Sun-Sat: October 25-30, 2009

5th International African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference
An African Homecoming: Exploring origins of the Diaspora
Dar Es Salaam & Zanzibar, Tanzania

5th International African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference
I have been invited to participate in an international conference in Tanzania—Dar Es Salaam and Zanzibar—that focuses on an effort to get countries who have histories of participating in the slave trade to acknowledge and teach the evil of that history. It is the fifth conference, and I will go as a freedom singer (repertoire from our struggle against slavery and our struggle against racial segregation) and cultural scholar, assisting in the African American side of the experience.

Thur: June 4, 2009 @ 7:00 p.m.

The Columbus Museum, 1251 Wynnton Road, Columbus GA
Tickets: $10; online or call 706.494.1663

Sun: May 3, 2009 at Madison Square Garden

I participated in a special concert celebration of Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday. All of the proceeds raised went directly to The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an environmental charity that Pete started back in 1966 to help clean up the Hudson River.
Please read more about Pete Seeger.

Fri: April 3, 2009 @ 9:10 a.m.

In Residence, Liberal Arts Symposium Lecture, Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA
Theme: The Relationship Between Music and Society

Mon: March 26, 2009 @ 1 p.m.

Martin Luther King, Jr Convocation Speaker, Denison University, Granville, OH

Sun: March 25, 2009

Special guest, Toshi Reagon Sacred Music Concert
Toshi Reagon Annual Birthday Concerts (January 22-25, 2009)

Fri: March 23, 2009

Williamette University, Salem OR

Wed: March 20, 2009

Zora! Festival 20th Anniversary, St Lawrence African Methodist Episcopal Church, East Kennedy Blvd, Eatonville, FL

Sun: March 15, 2009 @ 7:00 p.m.

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Byham Theater

Wed: February 18, 2009

Writers at Rutgers Reading Series, Rutgers Student Center, Multipurpose Room, 126 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ

Thu: February 5, 2009 @ 7:30 p.m.

Eastern Kentucky University, 521 Lancaster Ave., 103 Roark Bldg., Richmond, KY

Fri: January 23, 2009 @ 7:30 p.m.

Willamette University, Smith Auditorium

Tues: December 2, 2008

The Menil Collection, Houston, TX
Menil hosts Robert Wilson, Bernice Johnson Reagon for two-part evening
For Come and go with me to that land at the Menil Collection, Wilson, an avant-garde director and playwright will give a lecture/demonstration. Then Reagon, a cofounder of the a cappela ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock, will perform with her daughter, Toshi Reagon, Marcelle Davies-Lashley, Josette Newsam and Jason Walker.
Doors open for the free event at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 2. If you can’t get seating inside, the program will be broadcast outside, so bring a blanket.

Thu-Fri: November 13-14, 2008

I was the special guest for the Spiritual Project Gala in Denver, November 13, 14. These were my remarks…
“I come to you this evening as a child of Southwest Georgia. I was born in Dougherty County in the decade before the halfway mark of the last century, I grew up in a rural area, the churches I learned to sing sang songs that were from the 19th century both in repertoire and the style of singing. So tonight, I come with a cultural load that stretches back more than 150 years. It is a honor and a pleasure to stand in the 21st century and find that in Denver Colorada there is this organization, this very special work being carried on and supporte by this community. It is indeed a great honor to be a part of an evening celebrating the singing and teaching tradition of the 19th century African American spirituals.”

Tues: September 23, 2008

MAAFA Season at St Paul Community Baptist Church, Brooklyn, NY, Guest Speaker
At St Paul, MAAFA is more a season than anything… It runs for a week, the opening service is the Saturday Dedication of Babies “Moving Our Children Beyond the MAAFA.” This year there were 140 children at the center of this service. The actual 3 and ½ hour production is performed four times during the week. Each day, there are two sessions of presenters teaching from the study of the African American journey in this land. MAAFA is a Kiswahili word which gives definition to the catastrophic events experienced by millions of African people during the Middle Passage journey from Africa, bound for enslavement in the Americas.
During my Tuesday morning session, I began with “Remember Me” and for an hour, led those in the gathered congregation in a healing service of songs, and singing within a weave of stories and meanings…

Fri-Mon: April 18-21, 2008

Celebrating 50 Years Of The Ashgrove, Los Angeles Folkclub, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Performing with Freedom Singers (reunion of 1963 6-week run)

Thurs: April 17, 2008 @ 7:30pm

Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte NC

Wed: March 19, 2008

Austin-Peay State University, Clarksville, Tn

Tues: February 19, 2008

Song Culture of the Civil Rights Movement
California State University, San Bernardino, CA

Sat: February 16, 2008

Hugging Myself And Rocking, I Hung My Head And Cried African American Death And Dying
Rutgers University, Newark, NY

Wed: February 13, 2008

Notes From The Cultural Autobiography Of A Freedom Singer
Bryn Mawr College

Thurs: January 24, 2008 @ 7PM

Annual Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King Lecture
Series on Race and Non-Violence Social Change
Lecture Presentation
Sienna College, Loudonville, NY

2007
Sun: November 4, 2007

The Spirit and Place Civic Festival
Festival’s Central Theme: Living Generously
Indianapolis, Indiana

Wed: October 24, 2007

4PM keynote address, Sankofa Celebration
Event celebrates the 200th anniversary of the transatlantic slave trade
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT

Thurs-Sun: October 11-14, 2007

Melbourne International Arts Festival
Temptations of Saint Anthony
Australia

Sat: September 29, 2007

International Underground Railroad Conference
Rochester Riverside Convention Center
Rochester, NY

Thurs: September 27, 2007

Out and Equal Workplace Summit
Hilton Hotel
Washington, DC

Wed-Sun: April 18-22, 2007

Composer Residency and Concert with Seattle Women’s Choir
Dennis Coleman, director

Thu: March 22, 2007

Presentation for the Women’s History Luncheon Celebration
Martin’s Crosswinds Community and Ethnic Affairs
Prince George’s County
Greenbelt, MD

Tues: March 20, 2007

American Baptist College
Nashville, TN

Sat-Mon: March 3-5, 2007

Scholar and Artist-in-Residence
Stanford University, Stanford CA

Thu: March 1,2007

Commemoration for Fannie Lou Hamer
Mississippi Valley State University
Itta Bena, MS

Fri: February 2, 2007

Solo Presentation
Carleton College, Northfield MN

Tues: January 30, 2007

Powerhouse Speakers Series: “We All Everyone of Us...Have to Come Home Again...”
Newcomb College Institute at Tulane University
New Orleans, LA

Sun: 28 @ 7pm

Toshi Reagon Sacred Music Show with SPECIAL GUEST BERNICE JOHNSON REAGON
Joe’s Pub TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Tickets only: 10am-9pm 212-967-7555;
Tickets and reservations: 11am-5pm 212-539-8778

Fri-Sat: 26-27 @ 9pm

Celebration of the 22nd Year of Toshi Reagon Birthday Shows and BIGLovely’s 10th Anniversary
Joe’s Pub
Tickets only: 10am-9pm 212-967-7555; Tickets and reservations: 11am-5pm 212-539-8778

Tues: January 23, 2007

God’s Unfinished Future
Trinity Institute 37th National Theological Conference
Trinity Church, St Paul’s Chapel, Broadway and Fulton Street, NYC
Registration: online or 212-233-4164

Thu: January 18th, 2007

14th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr
7PM Convocation Address
Loyola College, McGuire Hall
4501 North Charles St Baltimore, MD
Event Information 410-617-5757

Sun: January 14, 2007

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Service
11AM Worship Speaker and 1PM Presentation
Foundry United Methodist Church
1500 16th St NW, Washington, DC

2006
Sat: December 2, 2006

Back to the Roots: Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon and Odetta
Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA

Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon and Odetta performing at Montgomery County Community College on Saturday December 2, 2006

This was the first time Odetta and I have been featured in a performance program. It was a rare event for me. Helen Haynes the director of the Lively Arts Series at Montgomery Community College is a gifted innovative artistic director. I recommend those in the Philadelphia area to be sure to check out the web site and partake.

Sat-Sun: November 25-26, 2006

The Temptation of St. Anthony
Teatr Wielki-Opera Narodowa
Warsaw Poland,

Sat: November 11, 2006

Coalition Building and the Power of Song
Berkshire Institute for Student Activism
Closing presentation to a conference of students, faculty and Community activists exploring ways to have student led organizing linked with issues in the community hosting the campuses. The event began with Reagon leading the Williams Gospel choir in two freedom songs. Read more...
Williams College, Williamstown, MA

Thur: September 21, 2006

Opening Plenary Speaker: Spelman College Chapel WISDOM Center Global Conference
Sisters of African Descent: Connecting Spirituality, Religion and Vocation
Spelman College, Sisters Chapel, Atlanta GA

Mon: September 18, 2006

Solo Presentation
Mansfield University, Mansfield PA

Fri: August 11, 2006

Toshi Reagon and Big Lovely with Guest Artist: Bernice Johnson Reagon
Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival

Sun: July 16, 2006

Bernice Johnson Reagon and Company
A Special Song Set Presentation created for Grand Opening Discover Watermill Day

Sat: July 8, 2006

Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely with Guest Artist: Bernice Johnson Reagon
CELEBRATE BROOKLYN
Prospect Park Bandshell, 9th St and Prospect Pk West, Brooklyn NY
More information: 718-855-7882

Mon: June 5, 2006

Memorial Tribute for Octavia Butler (1947-2006) at New York Public Library, June 5, 2006. Reagon performed with her daughter Toshi Reagon at the tribute.

For more information contact Jodi Solomon at the Jodi Solomon Speakers Bureau.

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