Bringing the Gospel to the Civil Rights Movement
Singer and civil rights worker Benice Johnson Reagon studied Euro-classical music in college, During her time in the Freedom Singers, she returned to her gospel roots. She joins Fresh Air to talk about how she combined her musical talents with her activism.
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Other segments from the episode on October 26, 1988
A Modern Take on "A Soldier's Tale"
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews an all-star recording of Stravinsky's jazz-inspired theater piece, which features Sting, Ian McKellen, and Vanessa Redgrave.
David Crosby Serves Time and Gets Sober
Part II of the interview with the folk-rock star. While serving time on drug charges, Crosby joined the prison band as a guitar player. He says it was the first time he performed sober.
Reviewing a Poet's "Curriculum Vitae"
Lawrence Joseph is lawyer and poet from Detroit whose parents are from Lebanon. Critic Stuart Klawans says Joseph's newest collection features brutal autobiography and fierce intelligence.
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Civil Rights and Gospel.
Bernice Johnson Reagon, singer, cultural historian and director of Smithsonian's Program in Black American Culture. Reagon sings contralto with Sweet Honey in the Rock, one of the country's leading a cappella groups. She's been described as a "song shaper and song preserver." In her work with the Smithsonian, Reagon tries to maintain obscure and dying Baptist choral traditions.
Songs of the Civil Rights Movement
Scholar, activist and singer Bernice Reagon was a member of SNCC's Freedom Singers. She talks about the history of songs associated with the Civil Rights Movement.
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