Sisters Chapel Celebrates African-American Women of the Civil Rights Movement
As part of its fall worship service speaker series, Sisters Chapel at Spelman College
will host Bernice Johnson Reagon, cultural historian and singer/composer/producer,
as the featured guest speaker. Her topic will be “Song and Singing as ‘Stance’ in the
Struggle Against Injustice and Evil.”
The service will be Sunday, Sept. 25, at 10 a.m. in Sisters Chapel, 350 Spelman Lane,
Atlanta. It is free and open to the public. In support of this worship service, Reagon
will be joined by Joyce Johnson, professor emeriti and Spelman College organist; the
Spelman College Glee Club under the direction of Kevin Johnson; and members of
Sisters Chapel Arts Ministry.
For more than half a century Bernice Johnson Reagon has been a major cultural voice
for freedom and justice. Born in southwest Georgia, her activism began as a student
leader during the Albany Civil Rights Movement. A powerful songleader, Reagon joined
the original SNCC Freedom Singers formed in 1962 by Cordell Reagon, founded the
Atlanta-based Harambee Singers in 1966, and while completing her doctoral studies in
cultural history at Howard University, formed the internationally-renowned African-
American women’s a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey In The Rock.
She led the group for 30 years until retirement in early 2004. As a cultural historian,
Reagon has been highly recognized for her pioneering public history scholarship and
production in the history and evolution of African-American culture and music traditions.
Sisters Chapel worship services provide opportunities for students to think critically
about ethics and moral responsibility, share creative and artistic expressions of Black
religious life and culture and grow in their ability to be liturgical and ethical leaders. The
Rev. Lisa D. Rhodes is dean of the Sisters Chapel and director of the Spelman College
WISDOM Center.
For more information, visit www.spelman.edu or call 404-270-5729 or 404-681-3643.