🎙️ Episode 11

Black Mothers and Our History | A Legacy of Healing

As we approach Mother’s Day, this episode invites us into a deeper reflection on the legacy of Black motherhood, one shaped by history, resilience, trauma, community, and profound love.

From the motherland to enslavement, from separation to survival, Black motherhood carries a story that is both painful and powerful. In this moving and personal reflection, Rita Coburn explores how generations of Black women have mothered not only their own children, but entire communities, often under unimaginable circumstances.

Through storytelling, history, and lived experience, this episode asks an important question:
What does Mother’s Day mean when we understand the full truth of our history?

🔍 What You’ll Hear in This Episode
The historical roots of Black motherhood, beginning in Africa and through enslavement
The legacy of separation, survival, and communal caregiving
How Black women have mothered across generations, often beyond their own families
Personal stories about Rita’s mother and the lessons of “mother wit”
The impact of community mothers, including figures like Maya Angelou and Merri Dee
Reflections on single motherhood, resilience, and cultural strength
What it means to honor mothers with truth, gratitude, and understanding

💬 A Defining Idea from This Episode

Motherhood is not only about birth. It is about vision, sacrifice, and the ability to give what is needed, even when it is not understood in the moment.

📚 Reading Resources

📖 Black-Eyed Peas for the Soul: Stories by and about Black Women by Donna Marie Coles Johnson
Includes Rita Coburn’s short story “Two Women and a Little Olive Oil,” a reflection on spiritual guidance, caregiving, and the lessons passed between women.

📖 Rise Up Singing: Black Women Writers on Motherhood by Cecelie S. Berry and Janice Liddell
A powerful collection exploring the many dimensions of Black motherhood through personal essays and storytelling.

📣 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 the episode
https://youtu.be/qRAmp6Q5-Nw

🎧 Listen on your favorite platform
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323/episodes/19009870

🔗 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

🎙️ Episode 10

What Pulitzer Prize-Winning David Levering Lewis Discovered About His Family & Our History (Part 1)

What happens when one of the most respected historians in America turns his lens inward?

In this powerful conversation, David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of W.E.B. Du Bois, shares what he uncovered when he began exploring his own family history.

This episode moves beyond scholarship into something deeply personal. What begins as a journey of grief and reflection becomes a profound discovery, one that reveals unexpected truths about lineage, identity, and the complex history woven into Black American lives.

🔍 What You’ll Hear in This Episode
The story behind David Levering Lewis’ decision to write his own family history
How personal loss led to a deeper exploration of ancestry and legacy
The surprising discovery of his connection to a Southern slaveholder
The layered realities of Black lineage in America beyond simplified narratives
Why documenting your own family history matters now more than ever
The role of historians in preserving truth in a time of erasure and misinformation
How Black history is central, not peripheral, to the American story
🧠 Key Themes
Our Truth, Our History, Our Story
Family lineage and hidden histories
Black intellectual and cultural legacy
Historical erasure and reclaiming narrative power
The intersection of personal memory and public history
Documentation as resistance
💬 A Defining Idea from This Episode

History is not just what we inherit, it is what we choose to uncover, understand, and preserve.

📣 Resources / Links

📘 Learn more about David Levering Lewis’ book
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622811/the-stained-glass-window-by-david-levering-lewis/

🏆 Pulitzer Prize profile
https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/david-levering-lewis-0

🎬 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 the episode
https://www.youtube.com/@ritacoburn9240

🎧 Listen on your favorite platform
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

🎙️ Episode 9

Michael The Price of Music for Our Generation
(Our Truth, Our History, Our Story)

📝 Episode Summary

What did it mean to be Michael Jackson before he became a global icon?

In this episode, we step beyond the music and into the historical reality that shaped his life. Drawing from lived experience in the Midwest near Gary, Indiana, this reflection connects one family’s story to a broader cultural truth shaped by the Great Migration and the realities of Black life in America from the 1960s forward.

🔍 What We Explore

• The role of fathers like Joe Jackson navigating limited opportunity
• The strength and constraints experienced by mothers like Katherine Jackson
• How systemic barriers shaped Black family life and opportunity
• Why music—through groups like The Jackson 5—became a pathway forward
• The cost of childhood fame and the loss of ordinary life
• How we interpret the past differently through a modern lens

🎬 Film & Cultural Context

Directed by Antoine Fuqua and featuring powerful performances by Colman Domingo and Nia Long, the film invites us to consider not just who Michael Jackson was, but the world that made him.

🎥 MICHAEL will bring audiences a riveting portrayal of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.
Watch the official trailer and learn more: https://michael.movie/
In theatres April 24, 2026

🧠 Why This Conversation Matters

This is more than a story about fame. It’s about:

• Family survival
• Generational pressure
• Cultural identity
• The cost of greatness

It’s also a reminder that to understand history, we must step into the realities of the time, not just judge them from the present.

📣 Resources / Links

Read the poem mentioned, “We Had Him” by Maya Angelou
https://allpoetry.com/poem/14326539-We-Had-Him-by-Maya-Angelou

Share the film
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause premieres May 19, 2026

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

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

Watch here
https://youtu.be/hEEBgWkChNU

Listen here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323/episodes/19009870

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

🎙️ Episode 8 Show Notes

Episode Title: Black Journalism in a Time of Erasure: A Conversation with NABJ President, Errin Haines

In this timely and urgent conversation, we sit down with Errin Haines, President of the National Association of Black Journalists, to explore the evolving landscape of Black media, truth-telling, and democracy.

As media consolidation, job cuts, and anti-DEI efforts reshape the industry, where do we go to find trusted voices? And what does it mean to protect truth in an era of misinformation?

This episode unpacks the challenges—and opportunities—facing Black journalists today, voting during this critical election, and why supporting Black media is more critical than ever.

🎧 In This Episode, We Explore:

• The shifting landscape of Black journalism and media representation
• How media consolidation and job cuts impact access to trusted voices
• The rise of misinformation—and how it disproportionately targets Black communities
• Where to find credible Black journalists today (YouTube, Substack, independent platforms)
• The role of Black journalists in protecting democracy and informing voters
• Why supporting Black media is essential for future generations

🗳️ Why This Conversation Matters

From public health crises to elections, access to accurate information is power. This episode highlights how misinformation can have real consequences—and why intentional engagement with trusted sources is key to community empowerment.

📣 Resources / Links

Connect with Errin Haines
https://19thnews.org/author/errin-haines/
https://www.instagram.com/emarvelous/

Support Black journalism.

Learn more about the National Association of Black Journalists and support their mission:
👉 NABJ.org

No contribution is too small—your support helps sustain journalism that informs, protects, and empowers.

Share https://youtu.be/5kMsik6rDQM?si=JJkFtdqTPyYdSB_a

Share the film
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause premieres May 19, 2026

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

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

Watch here https://youtu.be/5fg-aydRHLA

Listen here https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323/episodes/19009870

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
Guest: Errin Haines
Executive Producer: Andrew T. Carr
Producers: Christine Coburn Whack, H. Lee Whack

Music by Damien Sebe - so good - https://thmatc.co/?l=D6BE065E

🎙️ Episode 7 Show Notes

Episode Title: Music as Memory: Dr. Fredara Hadley on Music as Culture and W.E.B. Du Bois (Part 2)

Episode Summary

In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Dr. Fredara Hadley returns to explore the deeper relationship between music, culture, and identity through the lens of W.E.B. Du Bois.

Together, we examine how Du Bois’ Northern upbringing shaped his understanding of Black music—and why genres like jazz, blues, and gospel were outside of his lived experience. From the legacy of blackface minstrelsy to the rise of racial uplift ideology, this episode challenges us to consider how context, geography, and history influence what we value as “culture.”

Dr. Hadley unpacks Du Bois’ evolving perspectives, and the complexity of labeling him as simply “elitist.”

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• How Du Bois’ upbringing in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, shaped his musical lens
• The impact of blackface minstrelsy on perceptions of Black music
• Du Bois’ critique of jazz and its cultural implications
• The role of respectability politics and racial uplift ideology
• The musical and intellectual contributions of Shirley Graham Du Bois
• How Black music functions as memory, preservation, and cultural truth
• Why we must avoid reducing historical figures to modern-day soundbites

Special Guest

Dr. Fredara Hadley – Ethnomusicologist, educator, and scholar of African American music and culture.

https://www.juilliard.edu/faculty/hadley-fredara

Film Mentioned

American Masters
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause premieres May 19, 2026

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

Resources / Links:

• “Do Ba” Music performed by Christine Coburn Whack https://ccw.kit.com/cba7bd514d?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAacI9BHOncpU-y57vf9fEZ4-CUS8tPsDlxL4IxCa5YGKPpIft3EUIYsdAl9XKw_aem_fLLWPY6F5GZQuhRkZOJfcw
• “Do Ba” produced by Ladi Oyewo aka Bay The Producer https://www.instagram.com/baytheproducer/
• Transcript is available here https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323
• Stay connected https://linktr.ee/ritacoburnmedia

Listen, Share, and Subscribe. Be a part of the conversation. These are our truths, our history, our stories, and they shape the world we live in. Join us on Mondays at 7:30 PM every week for the premiere of the next episode.

Copyright:

Music “Do Ba” Courtesy of publisher CCW Worldwide with Christine Coburn Whack

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Rights: No known restrictions on publication

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014637057/

🎙 Episode 6: Music as Memory: Dr. Fredara Hadley on Culture, Spirituals, and Du Bois (Part 1)

Description:
In this powerful episode, we sit down with ethnomusicologist Fredara Hadley following the premiere of W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause. Together, we explore the deep relationship between music, history, and the Black experience—uncovering how sound carries memory, identity, and truth across generations.
From field hollers and spirituals to the groundbreaking work of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Dr. Hadley unpacks how Black music has always been more than sound—it is survival, storytelling, and cultural preservation.
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation.

In This Episode, We Explore:
* What it means to be an ethnomusicologist and why music cannot be separated from culture
* The evolution of Black music—from field calls and work songs to spirituals and early gospel
* How music served as catharsis, healing, and community-building after enslavement
* The regional differences in Black musical traditions across the United States
* How W.E.B. Du Bois first encountered spirituals and called them “sorrow songs”
* The role of the Fisk University and the Jubilee Singers in preserving and globalizing spirituals
* Why arranging spirituals helped both fund Black education and preserve musical traditions
* The concept of Black music as a site of conjuring, memory, and world-making

Watch episode here: https://youtu.be/Ip-USqYBVYQ

Resources / Links:
* Watch the trailer https://youtu.be/5kMsik6rDQM?si=0Xm2f...
* Transcript is available here https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323/ep...
* Stay connected https://linktr.ee/ritacoburnmedia

Listen, Share, and Subscribe

Be a part of the conversation. These are our truths, our history, our stories—and they shape the world we live in.

Episode 5: Sinners, One Battle After Another, and the Truth

Description:
In this episode, we explore how Black storytelling—both in documentary and Hollywood—captures the complexity of history, truth, and lived experience. From the Oscar-nominated Sinners to narratives of perseverance and survival, we examine how our stories reflect the battles within our communities and within ourselves.

We discuss the evolution of Black stories on screen, the lessons from history, and why understanding multiple truths is essential. This episode dives deep into the personal and collective struggles, the victories, and the enduring fight for justice and representation.

Topics Covered:

• The significance of Sinners and its impact on contemporary Black storytelling
• How history is preserved and challenged through film
• The lessons from One Battle After Another about progress, sacrifice, and generational struggles
• The intersection of truth, story, and lived experience in media
• Reflections on Hollywood, documentary filmmaking, and the Oscars as platforms for Black narratives

Guest / Host Highlights:

• Connections between documentary truth and narrative filmmaking
• Insights into how Black artists reclaim their stories on their own terms

Resources / Links:

• Watch the trailer https://youtu.be/5kMsik6rDQM?si=0Xm2fsgMf81tAsgT

Listen, Share, and Subscribe
Be part of the conversation. These are our truths, our history, our stories—and they shape the world we live in.

🎙 Episode 4 Show Notes
Title: Defending Our Stories: Inside Black Public Media with Leslie Fields-Cruz (Part 1)

Description:
In this episode of Our Truth Our History Our Story: Our THS, host Rita Coburn sits down with Leslie Fields-Cruz to explore the critical role of supporting and protecting Black storytelling.

This conversation explores the power behind the stories we see on screen and the institutions that make them possible. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation with Leslie Fields-Cruz. Be sure to return next week for Part 2 as we continue exploring the future of Black storytelling and the work of Black Public Media.

Leslie Fields-Cruz serves as Executive Director of Black Public Media, an organization that has spent decades supporting independent filmmakers and ensuring that stories about the Black experience reach audiences through public media. From documentaries about icons like Maya Angelou and Marian Anderson to the upcoming PBS film W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause, Black Public Media has played a vital role behind the scenes in bringing these stories to the screen.

Rita and Leslie discuss the importance of documentary storytelling in a time when history is often challenged, censored, or misunderstood. They explore why art can be powerful—and sometimes dangerous—when it tells the truth. The conversation also highlights the growing need for public support to ensure that Black stories, history, and culture continue to be documented and shared.

As funding landscapes shift and traditional support for public media faces uncertainty, Leslie shares an ambitious vision: building a community of 1.8 million supporters who believe in preserving and telling the stories that shape our collective understanding of history.

This episode is a reminder that storytelling is not just about the past—it is about the present and the future. When we support storytellers, we defend the truth itself.

Tune in every week as we explore:

Our Truth
Our History
Our Stories

Because in our stories, we find our truth.

Special Thanks To:

Head of Production
Jeannette Santiago

Recording Studio
Manhattan Neighborhood Network Studios

Links & Resources:

Watch this episode on YouTube
https://youtu.be/qZn2TcoLlj4

Follow Episodes on
Listen and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323/follow

Read the transcript
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2598323/episodes/18852069

Learn more about and support Black Public Media
https://blackpublicmedia.org

Learn more about Manhattan Neighborhood Network
https://www.mnn.org

Learn more about Rita Coburn’s documentary W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause, airing on American Masters on PBS on May 19, 2026

Follow updates from Rita Coburn Media
https://linktr.ee/ritacoburnmedia

Social / Call to Action:

Share your family stories using #OurTHS

Record the elders in your family. Preserve their stories, their memories, and their truth.

Learn more about Black Public Media and help support the future of Black storytelling. Join the movement to build 1.8 million voices standing behind our stories.
https://blackpublicmedia.org/donate

Follow us on social media
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