🎙️ Episode 12

“Will We Survive This Democracy?” | David Levering Lewis (Part 2)

W.E.B. Du Bois was born in 1868 and died in 1963 on the eve of the March on Washington, passing the baton to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In this episode, we return to Du Bois not only as a historical figure, but as a living question for our present moment: How do we move forward from here?

In conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Levering Lewis, we explore how the struggles Du Bois documented, civil rights, democracy, citizenship, and dignity, echo powerfully in 2026.

This is not just history. It is an inheritance.

🔍 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• The final question W.E.B. Du Bois leaves us with: how do we move forward?
• Why this moment feels like a continuation of the civil rights struggle
• The connection between Du Bois’s ideas and today’s debates on democracy and voting rights
• Reflections on “double consciousness” and its modern meaning in Black life
• How historical cycles of exclusion and resistance continue to repeat
• Why historians matter in moments of political and cultural tension
• The urgency of documenting, protecting, and understanding Black history in real time
• The global context of democracy, power, and historical memory

🧠 Key Themes

• Civil rights then and now
• Democracy under pressure
• Historical memory vs. historical erasure
• Black intellectual tradition
• Citizenship, voting rights, and power
• The responsibility of historians
• Survival, resistance, and forward movement

💬 A Defining Idea from This Episode

We may not recognize the moment we are in while we are in it, but history often reveals itself only when we are forced to act within it.

📣 Resources / Links

🎬 Share the film
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause premieres May 19, 2026
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kMsik6rDQM

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

📺 Watch here
https://www.youtube.com/@ritacoburn9240

🎧 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