The African-American, all-female ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock will perform their program of Grammy Award-winning music in Finney Chapel this Sunday, Oct. 14. This group of six black women, based in Washington, D.C., is known for their unique music inspired by the traditions of the black American churches fused with other contemporary styles. During this year, they have or will perform in settings ranging from churches in inner city Detroit to New York’s Carnegie Hall to the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Sunday’s program, sponsored and organized by the Oberlin Finney Lecture Committee, is a product of the Oberlin College Convocation Series that most recently featured Yale professor Stephen Carter in September. While the other convocations at Oberlin this year are lecture-oriented, Sweet Honey in the Rock will perform music for the duration. A sold-out Finney Chapel is expected and the tickets are free of charge.
Sweet Honey in the Rock describes themselves as having roots in “the sacred music of the black church — spirituals, hymns gospel — as well as jazz and blues.” Rap, reggae, and doo-wap have also found their way into Sweet Honey’s repertoire. Using vocals, sign language and an array of percussion and assorted instruments, Sweet Honey strives to deliver messages of great importance. They are a voice of the civil rights movement, but in a broader sense, according to their biography, try to “speak out against oppression and exploitation of every kind.”
The group was founded in 1973 by Bernice Johnson Reagon, and originally had ties to the Washington D.C. Black Reperatory Theater. The present five singers bring the group five different backgrounds, a diversity translating into Sweet Honey’s eclectic repertoire based on African and African-American music.
“One minute you are the master teacher, the next you are being taught by the master,” Reagon said, in reference to the individual expertise that each of the women bring to the group.
Sweet Honey in the Rock has changed in the 28 years since it’s birth. Reagon says that the ever-evolving style and change of Sweet Honey gives the group a kind of magic.
“We affirm the complexities of life, and part of that is trying to touch the ancient, as well as the newest breath,” Reagon said.
The members of the ensemble include five vocalists and a professional sign language interpreter for the hearing-impaired. The founder, Reagon, is professor of history at American University and also holds a Curator Emeritus position at the Smithsonian Institute. The other members of the group — Aisha Kahlil, Nitanju Casel, Ysaye Barnwell, Carol Maillard and Shirley Saxton — also have considerable resumes. Casel spent four years in Senegal as a teacher and performer and Saxton is a certified member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

Sweet Honey in the Rock has an impressive discography that includes over 10 albums and spans many genres – from traditional African selections to black spirituals and church music. Reflecting their diverse nature, this ensemble is also well traveled internationally, including tours of South America, Africa, Europe, China, Australia and New Zealand.

The Convocation Series at Oberlin strives to bring distinguished performers and speakers to campus as an educational opportunity for students and the surrounding community. This commitment, spelled out thoroughly on the 2001-02 Oberlin Convocations Brochure, is organized and made possible largely by the President’s Office and Kathryn Stuart, Assistant to the President.
Quoting the brochure, Stuart says that she especially likes that these convocations because they “stimulate our thinking and prompt our discussion as a community.”

Sunday night’s performance will mark Sweet Honey in the Rock’s second performance at Oberlin. They performed at the College previously in 1993.

Sweet Honey in the Rock performs on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. in Finney Chapel. Admission is free, but a ticket is needed to attend the concert. Stop by Wilder Desk for yours.