Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Bernice Johnson Reagon, acclaimed civil rights activist, historian and dynamic founder of Grammy Award-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, will speak at the University of North Carolina Wilmington's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 20 at Kenan Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public but advance tickets are required.

A witness to the struggle against racism during the Civil Rights movement, Reagon was expelled from Albany State College for her participation in a student demonstration. She was a member of the original Freedom Singers formed by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in 1962. While a graduate student of history at Howard University, she formed the internationally renowned African American women's a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Her repertoire includes more than a dozen solo recordings. As a legendary icon, freedom singer and civil rights activist, Reagon continues to speak out against racism in order to carry forward the legacy of the late Martin Luther King Jr.

Reagon is professor emeritus of history at American University and curator emeritus at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. She has produced several Peabody Award-winning works for PBS and HBO networks, National Public Radio and the Smithsonian. Reagon has received the Heinz Award for the Arts and Humanities, the Leeway National Award for Women in the Arts, and the Presidential medal for her work as a scholar, professor and artist.

Admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available at the Kenan Auditorium box office beginning Wednesday, Jan. 12, from noon to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. For ticket information, call 910.962.3500. Books and CDs of Reagon's work will be available for purchase at the event, and Reagon will sign books directly after her performance.

Media contact:
Dana Fischetti, media relations manager, 910.508-3127 or fischettid@uncw.edu