The Songs Are FreeThe Songs Are Free

In this program, Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of the musical group Sweet Honey in the Rock, and curator of the Community Life Division of the Smithsonian Institution, discusses with Bill Moyers how black music has shaped the African-American experience and identity. Reagon traces the role of early spirituals rooted in the black church to their inspirational use in the early Civil Rights movement. Live musical performances, educational workshops, and archival footage of Reagon and noted Civil Rights leaders are included. Reagon's work with Sweet Honey in the Rock is shown as continuing the tradition of black music as a source of resistance, courage, and pride, as well as determination and faith.