Shirley Childress Saxton is a professional
American Sign Language interpreter who joined the
African American a cappella group
Sweet Honey in the Rock in
1980. Saxton, who learned to sign from her deaf parents, holds a bachelor’s degree in deaf education and is a certified member of the
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf[?]. When Johnson is not on tour with
Sweet Honey in the Rock she teaches
sign language classes and conducts workshops on interpreting music.