"we who believe in freedom cannot rest..."
a sacred home-going for a truth-singer
Bernice Johnson Reagon has passed into spirit. Co-founder of the Black womyn’s acapella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, which released 15 albums, founding member of SNCC’s Freedom Singers and hero of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement and 1970’s women’s liberation movement, singing into this decade, hers was the voice, the poem-song providing a beat to the heart of many movements.
"I learned that if you bring Black people together, you bring them together with a song. To this day, I don't understand how people think they can bring anybody together without a song." — Bernice Johnson Reagon
Ella’s Song
Sweet Honey in the Rock, based on the words of Ella Baker
We who believe in freedom cannot rest
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes
Until the killing of black men, black mothers’ sons
Is as important as the killing of white men, white mothers’ sons
That which touches me most is that I had a chance to work with people
Passing on to others that which was passed on to me
To me young people come first, they have the courage where we fail
And if I can but shed some light as they carry us through the gale
The older I get the better I know that the secret of my going on
Is when the reins are in the hands of the young, who dare to run against the storm
Not needing to clutch for power, not needing the light just to shine on me
I need to be one in the number as we stand against tyranny
Struggling myself don’t mean a whole lot, I’ve come to realize
That teaching others to stand up and fight is the only way my struggle survives
I’m a woman who speaks in a voice and I must be heard
At times I can be quite difficult, I’ll bow to no man’s word
We who believe in freedom cannot rest
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes
Lyrics and music by Bernice Johnson Reagon
I have loved their music for so many years So powerful!