🎙️ Episode 13

This Film Became a Movement | W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause Premieres on PBS

After more than four years of research, interviews, travel, fundraising, collaboration, and faith, W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause premieres nationally on PBS.

In this special episode, Rita Coburn reflects on the journey of bringing this documentary to life and the overwhelming response from audiences across the country. From Los Angeles and Cleveland to Atlanta, New York, Santa Monica, Chicago, and Memphis, this film has sparked something larger than a documentary screening. It has become a movement.

This episode explores why the work and warnings of W.E.B. Du Bois remain urgent today. As conversations around democracy, voting rights, citizenship, history, and Black identity continue to shape the national landscape, Du Bois’s message speaks directly into the present moment.

Rita also reflects on the meaning of history, the importance of protecting truth, and why Black history is American history, international history, and Pan-African history.

🔍 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• The four-year journey behind W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause
• Audience reactions from screenings across the country
• Why this documentary became more than a film
• Connections between Du Bois, voting rights, and present-day democracy
• The importance of the 14th and 15th Amendments
• Why history continues to be contested and protected
• How Du Bois used media, scholarship, and storytelling as tools for liberation
• Why this moment calls for education, vigilance, and collective action

🧠 Key Themes

• W.E.B. Du Bois and democracy
• Voting rights and citizenship
• Black history as American history
• Pan-African identity and connection
• Historical memory and resistance
• Education and civic engagement
• Art as cultural transformation

📣 Resources / Links

W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause premieres on PBS Tuesday, May 19 at 8 PM CT/9 PM ET, and will be available to stream through June 16 on pbs.org/americanmasters, the American Masters YouTube Channel, and the PBS app.

🎬 Upcoming Events
https://www.ritacoburn.com/upcoming-events

📸 Event Photos Download
https://www.ritacoburn.com/event-photos

📱 Social Media Tool Kit
https://www.ritacoburn.com/social-media-tool-kit

🎬 Share the trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kMsik6rDQM

📄 Transcript available here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323

📺 Watch here
https://youtu.be/XSuCVNqwtLk

🎧 Listen here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323/episodes

🔗 Stay connected
https://linktr.ee/ritacoburnmedia

🎬 About the Series

Our Truth, Our History, Our Story (Our THS) explores the people, ideas, and cultural forces shaping Black history and storytelling today.

👥 Production Credits

Host: Rita Coburn
Executive Producer: Andrew T. Carr
Producers: Christine Coburn Whack, H. Lee Whack