Bernice Johnson Reagon was and still is a black activist. Ms. Reagon’s primary of objective during the civil rights movement was to integrate black and white people thru music. During time period when racism was alive and well Ms. Reagon took the chance to put both black and white musicians on the same stage.
Bernice Johnson Reagon delivered a message of unity and integration. Songs such as “We’ve come a long way to be together” and “There’s a new world coming” implied that the world is changing (disappearance of racism) and that it’s ok to accept everyone no matter what race you were. Ms. Reagon attempted to integrate races not only in her song subject matter but also thru her live performances. During the 1960’s integration was at times dangerous but mostly feared and Reagan used music to help bring the two races together.
Being a leader is difficult for most. Being different is very uncommon. Now imagine being a leader amongst a group of people who you are completely different from you. Bernice Johnson Reagan managed to lead a group of racially different people during a time when you could be killed for accepting those with a different skin color. Ms. Reagon didn’t have a platinum record nor make it on MTV’s top 10 list but she did help so that the Sammy Davis’s and Dean Martins of the world could make music together.
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