Georgia native Bernice Johnson Reagon, whose powerful voice helped propel the Civil Rights Movement, has died

Bernice Johnson Reagon, a Georgia-born musician and scholar who used her rich, powerful contralto voice in the service of the American Civil Rights Movement and human rights struggles around the world, died on July 16, according to her daughter’s social media post. She was 81.

Reagon was probably best known as the founder of the internationally renowned African American female a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, which she led from 1973 until her retirement in 2004. The Grammy-nominated group’s mission has been to educate and empower as well as entertain. They perform songs from a wide range of genres that include spirituals, children’s songs, blues and jazz. Some of their original compositions honor American civil rights leaders and international freedom movements like the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

“She was incredible,” said Tammy Kernodle, a distinguished professor of music at Miami University who specializes in African American music. She described Reagon as someone “whose divine energy and intellect and talent all intersect in such a way to initiate change in the atmosphere.”