By Jair The Literary Masturbator™
Music For Your Soul, From The Soul…

I just recently relocated to the Bay Area of Northern California from Southern California. The transition at first was going pretty rough but now that I have gotten a really good job and started to learn the area more things have turned out better than I could have ever imagined.

As I am preparing to move into my own place on June 1st I have begun to think how I want to celebrate and christen my new apartment. I know I want to burn sage to cleanse the space and play music. I have chosen to use the music of Sweet Honey in the Rock.

I can not remember the first time or the first song I heard by Sweet Honey in the Rock because their music, for me is so much a part of my blood and marrow that it seems I’ve always known it.

Founded in 1973 by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, “Sweet Honey” is a Grammy Award-winning African American female a cappella ensemble with deep musical roots in the sacred music of the black church - spirituals, hymns, gospel - as well as jazz and blues. Dr. Johnson is a former “Freedom Singer” from the 60’s civil rights movement and it is from this history that Sweet Honey gets its foundation.

Their first single is “Joan Little” who was a black woman of about 5ft in height who was sexually assaulted by her jailer and then kills him. This was in early 70’s and the state of North Carolina put out a dead or alive warrant for her. The song asks, “Who is this girl? And what is she to you?” the response is, “Joan Little she’s your sister, she’s your mother; Joan’s the woman who’s going to carry your child”. Bernice Johnson Reagon explains on the CD, “Raise Your Voice” that she realized that it could have been any woman in that situation.


There are many songs to highlight by Sweet Honey and I could go on and on but if you want a taste of the honey I suggest starting with the aforementioned, “Raise Your Voice” it includes some of their classics, “In The Morning when I rise”, “The Women Gather”, “Ballad of Harry Moore”, “I Remember, I Believe”, and “Ballad of the Broken Word/Give The People The Right To Vote”. The first Sweet Honey song I ever heard that used instrumentation. It works well in the hands of Lesbian Blues Rock artist and producer Toshi Reagon.

One song does stand out for me, “Chant” the lyrics are,

Ama ee boo oh yay ee
Ama ee boo oh yay

They come from an African rainforest and signify community and in the words of Dr. Isaye Maria Barnwell represent that all life is God. Sung in the round after her instruction to the assembled it is a delight to the ears and an awakening to the soul.

As I said before I could ramble on about Sweet Honey and the live experience but I am hoping these words will inspire to you to seek them out. Their website is http://www.sweethoney.com/ and their music and DVD’s are available at their site and others like Amazon and CD Baby.

Get a taste of Honey Y’all!

(left to right) top row: Aisha Kahlil, Shirley Childress Saxton (Sign Language Interpreter), Carol Maillard
second row: Louise Robinson, Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Case