Sweet Honey in the Rock

Sweet Honey in the Rock is an a cappella ensemble of African American women based in Washington, D.C. The group's musical and vocal repertoire encompasses many genres, including African American spirituals, congregational songs, gospels, blues, hymns, lullabies, and chants, as well as the more modern sounds of jazz, hip-hop, rap, and reggae. Thematically, Sweet Honey addresses issues relating to the worldwide struggle for justice, working against racism, war, and homophobia and for the rights of women, children, and differently abled persons.

Sweet Honey was founded in 1973 by Bernice Johnson Reagon as an ensemble that included Reagon, Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, and Mie. The first song Reagon taught the group was one she had heard growing up in southwest Georgia, based on a passage in Psalm ...