The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy

"The Black folk song, the rhythmic cry of the slave, stands today not simply as the sole American music, but as the most beautiful expression of human experience born this side the seas."   - W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk What can a song teach us about freedom? What can a melody reveal about memory, resilience, and the long struggle for human dignity? In this episode of  The Cause: Con...

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." — Frederick Douglass Juneteenth is not merely a holiday. It is not merely a date on a calendar, a festival, a parade, or a cookout. Juneteenth is a historical mirror. It asks us to look honestly at America's promises and America's contradictions, to remember both the wounds and the wonders of the American experiment. In this special episode, Dr. Rei...

Love is love is not sentiment alone. It is a declaration, a demand, a democracy still unfinished. In this episode, Dr. Reiland Rabaka traces the long and defiant arc of LGBTQIA+ liberation movements in America, from the hidden corners of pre-Stonewall queer life to the fury of the 1969 riots, through the grief and militancy of the AIDS crisis, and into today's ongoing battles over transgender righ...

Black is beautiful is not a slogan alone, but a summons, a call to consciousness, a chorus of reclamation rising from a people long told to doubt their own reflection. In this episode, Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores the Black Arts Movement, 1965 to 1975, a decade when art was insurgent and imagination was organized, when poetry marched and music mobilized, when theater testified and painting proclaim...

The Harlem Renaissance was not merely a moment. It was a movement, a meditation, a declaration that Black life, Black art, Black thought, and Black being would no longer be bound by the narrow scripts of a nation unsure of its own democracy. In this episode, Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores the Harlem Renaissance as early 20th century Afro-modernism, a transformative period when Black people dared to a...

"Five years rooted in history, five years reaching toward freedom—this is the work, this is the cause." — Dr. Reiland Rabaka In this special anniversary episode of  The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy , Dr. Reiland Rabaka reflects on the first five years of The Center for African and African American Studies/The CAAAS at the University of Colorado Boulder. What began as a vis...

This special episode of The Cause brings listeners to a powerful moment of remembrance held on February 16, 2026, marking the installation of a Bench by the Road through the Toni Morrison Society in honor of Dr. Charles Nilon and Mrs. Mildred Nilon. More than a commemorative event, this gathering stands as a public act of memory, recognition, and responsibility. The bench, simple in form yet profo...

In this episode of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy, Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores the feminist art movement as a vital site of resistance, cultural production, and social transformation. Moving across historical moments and artistic traditions, this conversation examines how feminist artists have challenged exclusion, disrupted dominant narratives, and redefined the boundar...

What is Women's Liberation? It is more than a slogan, more than a season, more than a symbolic seat at a table built by patriarchy. Women's liberation is the radical reimagining of the world itself. It is the audacious assertion that women are not property, not afterthought, not footnotes to male ambition, but full human beings endowed with intellect, imagination, agency, and authority. In this es...

What is Afrofuturism, and why does it matter now? In this episode, Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores Afrofuturism as more than a cultural trend. It is a philosophy of freedom, a political imagination, and a practice of worldmaking rooted in the Black Freedom Struggle. It is what happens when Black artists, thinkers, and communities refuse the lie that the future belongs to someone else. The future has n...

"If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated." — Dr. Carter G. Woodson In 2026, we mark 100 years of Black History Month. One hundred years of intentional remembering, rigorous study, and collective struggle around Black life and Black humanity. One hundred years of insisting...

Episode Date:  January 29, 2026 "The danger of the 'I Have a Dream' speech is not that it is remembered, but that it is remembered incorrectly. It is misremembered. The danger is nostalgia without commitment, reverence without responsibility. Dr. King's dream was not meant to be admired. It was meant to be enacted." - Dr. Reiland Rabaka In this concluding episode of our two-part series, Dr. Reilan...

"The Beloved Community is not a place we arrive at, but a practice we embody in relationship with one another." - Dr. Reiland Rabaka In this first part of our January series, Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores the meaning, origins, and practical demands of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision for the Beloved Community. Far from an abstract ideal, the Beloved Community represents a way of being and acting...

"Kwanzaa tells us we are the harvest our ancestors dreamed of and the seeds of new worlds not yet born." - Dr. Reiland Rabaka In this powerful and timely episode of  The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy , Dr. Reiland Rabaka offers a deeply rooted meditation on Kwanzaa as a cultural practice, a philosophical framework, and a living tradition born from the Black Freedom Movement...

In The Women's Suffrage Movement, Dr. Rabaka lifts up the intertwined histories of women's rights, abolitionism, racial justice, and democratic reform. This episode serves as a companion to  Episode 23, The Abolitionist Movement , deepening our understanding of how these movements shaped one another. The episode examines the evolution of suffrage organizing, the contributions of Black women's club...

  "The abolitionists were the first to teach us that freedom must be shared, that justice must be collective, and that allyship is not performance but participation." -  Dr. Reiland Rabaka Episode 23 of The Cause Podcast  takes listeners deep into the heart of  The Abolitionist Movement , exploring how the fight to end slavery laid the foundation for modern anti-racism, civil rights, and contempor...

In this powerful conversation, Dr. Reiland Rabaka is joined by DaWon Baker, CU Boulder's Associate Athletic Director for Impact & Strategic Engagement, along with three CU Boulder students and student-athletes who recently attended the 2025 Black Student Athlete Summit in Chicago. Together, they share what it means to be part of a national gathering that celebrates Black excellence, amplifies voic...

In this episode of  The Cause Podcast , Dr. Reiland Rabaka speaks with State Representative Junie Joseph, a dynamic legislator representing Colorado's District 10. Born in Haiti and now serving in the Colorado General Assembly, Representative Joseph shares her remarkable journey of resilience, civic engagement, and community-centered leadership. The discussion explores themes of representation, eq...

Episode Date:  October 9, 2025 "The Global South is not just geography—it's a shared story of survival, solidarity, and hope." - Dr. Reiland Rabaka In this powerful episode of  The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy , Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores  The Global South —not just as a place, but as a living, breathing movement for liberation. Through stories of art, activism, and resis...

Episode Date:  September 25, 2025 "Decolonization is not simply political. It is also cultural and musical. We can decolonize our minds, our art, and our institutions as we imagine a world rooted in justice, peace, and love."  — Dr. Reiland Rabaka In Episode 19 of  The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy , Dr. Reiland Rabaka takes us deep into the meaning and urgency of Decoloniz...

"Social justice is not charity, it's not something we give away when it's convenient—it's about transforming the very structures of society so that everyone can thrive." – Dr. Reiland Rabaka In Episode 18 of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy , we conclude our Justice Series with a powerful exploration of Social Justice . Dr. Reiland Rabaka examines how movements for equity,...

In Episode 17 of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy , Dr. Reiland Rabaka turns his attention to the politics of the plate— food justice . This episode digs deep into how access to healthy, affordable food is tied to democracy, power, and equality. From the grassroots brilliance of Ron Finley, the "Gangsta Gardener" of Los Angeles, to Fannie Lou Hamer's Freedom Farm Cooperati...

"Environmental justice is about more than saving the planet—it's about saving people, especially those who've been left out of the conversation for far too long."  — Dr. Reiland Rabaka In this episode, Dr. Rabaka examines the intersection of environmentalism, social justice, and the fight for equality. This powerful conversation unpacks how environmental issues disproportionately impact marginaliz...

"When we talk about radical democracy, we're not talking about partisan politics—we're talking about people power. We're talking about reimagining democracy so it's not just something we vote for, but something we live every single day." — Dr. Reiland Rabaka In this powerful episode of The Cause , Dr. Reiland Rabaka dives deep into the roots, meanings, and modern-day relevance of radical democracy...

What does it really mean to fight for peace? In this episode of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy , Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores the radical legacy of pacifism and nonviolent resistance in African American history and beyond. From W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr. to Bayard Rustin and Angela Davis, Dr. Rabaka brings forward voices that have imagined—and embodied—a di...