The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy

Dr. Reiland Rabaka
  • 5.0 (11)
  • Philosophy
  • Updated Biweekly

In collaboration with the Center for African and African American Studies/The CAAAS at the University of Colorado Boulder, The Cause is more than a podcast, it's a call to action. Guided by Dr. Reiland Rabaka, this inspiring series invites you to explore the transformative power of music, the wisdom of history, and the promise of democracy in the pursuit of racial justice. Through courageous conversations, insightful reflections, and powerful storytelling, The Cause amplifies voices and stories too often unheard. Together, we'll challenge injustices, break down societal misconceptions, and inspire each other to build a world where equality is not just an ideal, but a shared reality. Join us in this movement. Listen to The Cause, and become part of the collective journey to create a more just, inclusive, and vibrant future for all.

  1. Oct 15

    Dub: The Golden Age of Dub Reggae, 1973-1983

    "Dub's heavy use of reverb [serves] as a sonic metaphor for the condition of diaspora." —Michael Veal, Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae "Dub: The Golden Age of Dub Reggae, 1973–1983" enters the studio at the moment the studio became an instrument. Across Kingston's mixing boards, sound systems, record shops, yards, and streets, producers assembled the riddim, musicians built its foundation, engineers deconstructed and reconstructed the recording, and selectors returned that transformed sound to the people. Dub turned bass into memory, echo into history, silence into testimony, and technology into a tool of Black radical imagination. This episode traces the revolutionary work of King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Errol Thompson, Prince Jammy, Scientist, Augustus Pablo, the Revolutionaries, the Roots Radics, Sly and Robbie, and other architects of dub's golden age. It asks: What happens when oppressed people seize the machinery they inherited from colonial empire and make it speak freedom in their distinct decolonial language? Can breaking a song open teach us how to break open a society? Can the studio become a rehearsal room for radical democracy? Woven through the episode, the original poem "Scattered Sound Refuses Silence" hears dub as a metaphor for the African diaspora—dispersed but connected, wounded but creating, carrying Africa beneath the concrete jungle. A chronological thirty-six track companion playlist extends the journey through landmark recordings and essential rarities, revealing dub's astonishing range across ten years of spiritual searching, sonic rebellion, and Black musical avant-gardism. Enter the echo chamber, follow the bassline, and hear scattered sound refuse silence. See full show notes and the Dub playlist visit our website https://www.colorado.edu/center/caaas/podcast/episodes/episode-45-dub-golden-age-dub-reggae-1973-1983

  2. Oct 1

    Reggae: The Golden Age of a Spiritual Revolution and Musical Rebellion, 1970-1980

    In "Reggae: The Golden Age of a Spiritual Revolution and Musical Rebellion, 1970–1980," Dr. Reiland Rabaka enters the decade when Jamaica transformed bass, drum, scripture, street knowledge, and Rastafari consciousness into a global language of liberation. Moving from the Wailers' Soul Rebels to Bob Marley and the Wailers' Uprising, the episode explores how roots reggae challenged colonial power, racial hierarchy, economic inequality, political violence, and the unfinished promises of Jamaican independence. What does freedom sound like when a nation has gained a flag, but its people are still fighting for dignity? How can music awaken historical memory, nourish Black consciousness, defend tenderness, and move listeners from spiritual reflection toward democratic action? Through the music of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Culture, the Mighty Diamonds, the Congos, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, Althea and Donna, Janet Kay, and other essential voices, the episode hears reggae as the people's newspaper, portable sanctuary, and Pan-African protest. Interludes from the original poem "Wake the Town and Tell the People" weave Nyabinghi drumming, dub poetry cadence, and Rastafari mysticism through the story. A chronological 36-song companion playlist, featuring ten classic recordings by women reggae artists, extends the journey from Jamaica into Britain, Africa, rap, and the twenty-first century. Turn the music up, wake the town, and hear why reggae's struggle for spiritual freedom, social justice, and radical democracy still moves the world. See all show notes and the Reggae playlist on our website https://www.colorado.edu/center/caaas/podcast/episodes/episode-44-reggae-golden-age-spiritual-revolution-and-musical-rebellion-1970-1980

  3. Sep 17

    The Freedom Songs of the Civil Rights Movement

    What happens when a movement for freedom finds its voice—and a people turn song into courage? In this episode of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy, Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement as far more than a soundtrack to struggle. Rooted in African American spirituals, gospel traditions, Black sacred practices, labor organizing, and generations of communal music-making, freedom songs transformed churches, mass meetings, marches, buses, streets, and jail cells into spaces of resistance and possibility. The episode journeys through Montgomery, Nashville, Albany, Mississippi, and Selma while examining how singing helped movement members confront segregation, racial violence, fear, grief, and the unfinished promises of American democracy. At its center is a profound question: What happens when people denied full democratic voice begin singing freedom together? The original poem "What We Sang Before Freedom Came" explores song as memory, medicine, community, courage, and collective Black testimony. A 25-song thematic playlist carries listeners deeper into the movement through Fannie Lou Hamer, Bernice Johnson Reagon, the SNCC Freedom Singers, mass-meeting congregations, and Freedom Marchers whose voices made history audible. These songs did not simply describe freedom. They helped people practice it. Tune in—and hear what happened when democracy learned to sing. See all show notes and the Freedom Songs playlist on our website https://www.colorado.edu/center/caaas/podcast/episodes/episode-43-freedom-songs-civil-rights-movement

  4. Sep 3

    The Civil Rights Movement

    "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." — Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," 1963" What happens when a nation declares freedom but keeps a Colored Section waiting inside democracy?   In this episode of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy, Dr. Reiland Rabaka journeys through the Civil Rights Movement and the longer Black freedom struggle that made it possible. Moving from Abolition, Reconstruction, anti-lynching activism, Black labor organizing, and the struggle against Jim Crow through Montgomery, Birmingham, Mississippi, Selma, and the great legislative victories of 1964 and 1965, the episode asks what freedom means when Black people must risk their lives to exercise rights democracy claims already belong to them.   The episode centers movement makers including Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Septima Clark, Diane Nash, Medgar Evers, and John Lewis while confronting the violence directed against people practicing nonviolent resistance. The original poem "The Colored Section" transforms segregation's infamous sign into a metaphor for the distance between emancipation and the need for radical democratization. A companion playlist travels from Mahalia Jackson, Muddy Waters, Max Roach and Bob Dylan through Odetta, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Sly Stone, before a coda featuring Edwin Starr and Marvin Gaye carries the struggle forward.   The signs came down. But did the Colored Section disappear?   Tune in—and listen to democracy answer.   See all show notes and The Civil Rights Playlist on our website   URL: https://www.colorado.edu/center/caaas/podcast/episodes/episode-42-civil-rights-movement

  5. Aug 18

    The Music of the African Diaspora: Reggae, Salsa, Samba, Calypso & Soca, and Cumbia

    What happens when memory learns to move through rhythm? In this episode of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy, Dr. Reiland Rabaka journeys across Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, New York, Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, and Colombia to explore five great musical traditions of the African diaspora: reggae, salsa, samba, calypso & soca, and cumbia. Moving from enslavement and racial colonialism through migration, urbanization, Carnival, Rastafari, Pan-Africanism, popular protest, and cultural globalization, the episode asks how Black communities transformed historical struggle into extraordinary musical creativity. From reggae's bass-heavy meditations on Babylon and liberation to salsa's diasporic conversations, samba's communion of rhythm and movement, calypso's sharp social commentary, soca's Carnival release, and cumbia's cultural crossings, these musics reveal sound as archive, sanctuary, protest, pleasure, and democratic expression. Read the full show notes and see the Music of the African Diaspora playlist http://bit.ly/thecausepodcast

  6. Aug 6

    Ep 40: African Diaspora: Beyond Borders, Beyond Boundaries

    "History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history." — James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro The African Diaspora is not simply the history of Africans dispersed across the globe. It is the story of a civilization whose influence crossed oceans, whose ideas crossed generations, and whose enduring commitment to freedom continues to enlarge the democratic imagination of humanity. In this episode, Dr. Reiland Rabaka traces the Diaspora from its ancient roots in Africa's great kingdoms, empires, and trading networks, through the catastrophe of the transatlantic slave trade and the horrors of the Middle Passage, through the rise of Pan-Africanism and the global struggle for decolonization, and into the living, worldwide community of African-descended people that continues shaping the 21st century. Too often, the African Diaspora is reduced to the story of slavery alone. Dr. Rabaka insists on a richer and more honest telling: the people who crossed the Atlantic Ocean did not arrive empty-handed. They carried agricultural knowledge, traditions of metalworking and craftsmanship, sophisticated systems of spirituality and community organization, and ethical visions that transformed mutual responsibility even when every institution around them denied their humanity. Empires transported bodies. African people carried civilizations. Dr. Rabaka examines the intellectual and political traditions that grew from this shared historical experience, honoring the visionary thinkers who helped connect the struggles of African-descended people across the globe. W.E.B. Du Bois understood that the struggles of African Americans could never be separated from colonial rule in Africa or racial oppression across the Caribbean and Latin America. Marcus Garvey inspired millions toward pride, economic independence, and global solidarity. Anna Julia Cooper argued that the advancement of Black women strengthened democracy itself. Ella Baker reminded us that strong people don't need strong leaders because strong people lead themselves. And the Haitian Revolution demonstrated that liberty was not the exclusive language of Europe or North America. It belonged to humanity. Together, these lives and movements form the foundation of Pan-Africanism, one of the most influential political and intellectual traditions of the modern era. See the full show notes, listen to the playlist and explore our list of further reading recommendations

  7. Jul 16

    Ep 39: The Blues: Musical Memories, Oral Histories, and Cultural Archives

    The blues is not simply a music of sadness, heartbreak, or loss. Those themes are present, but they do not define the tradition. The blues is one of history's most eloquent narrators, philosophy carried in song, theology expressed through everyday life, and democratic testimony voiced by ordinary women and men whose names rarely appear in history books but whose lives helped shape the modern world. In this episode, Dr. Reiland Rabaka traces the blues from its deepest roots in the musical cultures of West and Central Africa, through the field hollers and work songs of enslavement, through its mature emergence in the Mississippi Delta, and into the Great Migration that carried it north to Chicago and beyond. The blues was born from contradiction, emerging from a nation that proclaimed liberty while protecting slavery, celebrated democracy while denying citizenship, and promised opportunity while constructing systems of racial domination. Black communities responded not only through protest and political organizing, but through culture. They sang before they could vote. They created before they were recognized as creators. They imagined freedom long before law acknowledged their humanity. Dr. Rabaka examines how the blues inherited the call and response, rhythmic vitality, and improvisational freedom of African musical traditions, and how it carried the emotional intensity and sacred aspiration of the spirituals into the ordinary struggles of daily life. He explores the world that produced the blues, the sharecropping, the Jim Crow laws, the racial violence and unfinished freedom of the post-Reconstruction South, and honors the artists who gave it voice: Charlie Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Little Walter, and the extraordinary Black women who transformed American popular culture, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Memphis Minnie, and Victoria Spivey, who insisted that Black women's experiences belonged at the center of public life. See all show notes and The Blues curated playlist

  8. Jul 2

    Ep 38: The Spirituals: The Black Sacred Song Tradition

    "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: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy, Dr. Reiland Rabaka explores the spirituals, the foundational African American musical tradition that emerged from the crucible of enslavement and became one of the most powerful expressions of Black faith, creativity, cultural memory, and democratic aspiration. Tracing the spirituals from their African and African diasporic roots through the era of slavery and beyond, this episode examines how these sacred songs functioned as prayer, protest, philosophy, historical testimony, communal healing, and visions of liberation. Along the way, listeners will encounter the social, political, religious, and cultural worlds that shaped the spirituals and discover how they influenced gospel, blues, jazz, soul, funk, rap, and the broader history of Black music. The episode also features the original poem, "The Sacred Singers Remain With Us," a meditation on memory, music, and the enduring presence of those whose voices carried hope through history. Accompanying the episode is a thematic playlist that journeys from classic spirituals to later musical traditions shaped by their legacy, revealing the deep currents connecting sacred song, freedom dreams, and cultural transformation. More than a story about music, this is a story about democracy, justice, community, and the human capacity to create beauty during strife and struggle. Tune in and discover why the spirituals still sing, and why their voices continue to call us toward freedom. Learn More and Explore Spirituals, Wikipedia News and Articles Black Spirituals as Poetry and Resistance, The New York Times The Bible in Song: Reclaiming African American Spirituals, Reflections, Yale University Born from tragedy, the power of collective Black singing continues to stay relevant, CBS News Further Reading & Listening William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, eds., Slave Songs of the United States (New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867). James H. Cone, The Spirituals and the Blues: An Interpretation (New York: Seabury Press, 1972). Dena J. Epstein, Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977). Arthur C. Jones, Wade in the Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1993). John Lovell Jr., Black Song: The Forge and the Flame: The Story of How the Afro-American Spiritual Was Hammered Out (New York: Macmillan, 1972). Bernice Johnson Reagon, If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me: The African American Sacred Song Tradition (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001). Bernice Johnson Reagon, ed., We'll Understand It Better By and By: Pioneering African American Gospel Composers (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992). Jon Michael Spencer, Protest and Praise: Sacred Music of Black Religion (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990). Various Artists, Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions, Vols. 1–4, compiled by Bernice Johnson Reagon (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SF 40076, 4 CDs, 1996). Playlist The Spirituals: The Black Sacred Song Tradition Playlist Listen to The Spirituals playlis on Spotify Preface by Dr. Reiland Rabaka The spirituals are among the deepest roots of African American music and among the most profound artistic traditions in human history. Emerging from the crucible of slavery, they carried memory when memory was threatened, dignity when dignity was denied, and visions of freedom when freedom seemed distant. They were prayers and protests, testimonies and theories, sacred songs and democratic dreams. Through them, enslaved African Americans transformed suffering into beauty, isolation into community, and faith into collective action. This playlist traces a musical journey across a century of recorded sound, beginning with classic spirituals preserved by African American singers and institutions that recognized their enduring value. From there, it follows the spiritual tradition into gospel, the Civil Rights Movement freedom songs, soul, reggae, and contemporary Black music. Along the way, listeners can hear recurring themes: deliverance, perseverance, communal solidarity, moral courage, and the conviction that another world is possible. The spirituals did not disappear after emancipation. They evolved. Their echoes can be heard in church sanctuaries, freedom marches, concert halls, jazz clubs, reggae sound systems, and rap music recordings. This playlist reveals the deep currents connecting sacred song, freedom dreams, cultural memory, and democratic possibility across generations. The voices change, the instruments change, the historical circumstances change, but the spirit song continues its journey. Listen to the saga of the Black sacred song. The Spirituals Playlist by Dr. Reiland Rabaka Deep River, Marian Anderson (1924) One of the earliest celebrated recordings of a spiritual, "Deep River" embodies longing, transcendence, and the symbolic journey toward freedom. The river serves simultaneously as a religious symbol and a metaphor for liberation. Go Down Moses, Paul Robeson (1925) Robeson's majestic interpretation of this spiritual foregrounds the Exodus story that became central to Black freedom struggles. Moses and Pharaoh became enduring symbols of liberation and oppression. Steal Away, Roland Hayes (1927) A spiritual of quiet yearning and sacred anticipation, "Steal Away" reflects both spiritual devotion and the desire for deliverance from earthly bondage. Didn't It Rain? Mahalia Jackson (1954) Jackson connects the spiritual tradition directly to modern gospel music. Her performance demonstrates how the sacred musical vocabulary of slavery continued to evolve in the twentieth century. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Odetta (1956) Odetta's haunting interpretation captures the emotional depth of separation, displacement, and longing that shaped the experiences of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Hold 'Em Joe, Harry Belafonte (1957) Drawing from Afro-Caribbean traditions, Belafonte reminds listeners that the story of slavery and resistance belongs to the broader African diaspora, not solely the United States. Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, Mahalia Jackson (1958) The biblical narrative of walls falling becomes a powerful symbol of collective struggle and transformation. The song foreshadows later freedom movements that sought to dismantle segregation and racial injustice. Packin' Up, Marion Williams (1962) One of the great voices in Black sacred music, Marion Williams brought extraordinary emotional depth and vocal innovation to gospel performance. "Packin' Up" draws directly from the spiritual tradition's themes of pilgrimage, deliverance, and preparation for liberation, whether understood spiritually, existentially or socially. This May Be the Last Time, The Staple Singers (1962) Rooted in the spiritual tradition, this recording bridges sacred music and social consciousness. Its message of urgency and moral accountability resonated deeply during the Civil Rights Movement. We Shall Not Be Moved, The Freedom Singers (1963) One of the great freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement, it demonstrates how activists adapted older spiritual traditions into collective songs of protest and democratic participation. We Shall Overcome, The Freedom Singers (1963) Perhaps the most famous freedom song of the twentieth century, it emerged from the same communal, participatory ethos that animated the spirituals. The sorrow songs became freedom songs. Peace Be Still, James Cleveland (1963) Often called the "King of Gospel," James Cleveland represents a direct descendant of the spiritual tradition. "Peace Be Still" transforms biblical faith into communal reassurance, demonstrating how the spirituals' emphasis on endurance, healing, and divine presence continued through modern gospel music and the Black church. Mississippi Goddam, Nina Simone (1964) Simone channels the prophetic spirit of the spiritual tradition into direct political critique. The sacred impulse toward justice becomes a demand for immediate social change. I've Got a Feeling, Shirley Caesar (1966) Caesar's performance exemplifies the spiritual tradition's transformation into modern gospel. The song combines testimony, communal affirmation, and unwavering faith, carrying forward the spirituals' emphasis on perseverance, hope, and divine accompaniment through struggle. Amazing Grace, Aretha Franklin (1972) Recorded live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, Franklin's landmark interpretation transforms a classic hymn through the musical language of the Black sacred song tradition. The performance demonstrates how the emotional intensity, communal spirit, improvisational freedom, and redemptive vision of the spirituals continued to flourish in modern gospel music. Precious Lord, Take My Hand, Aretha Franklin (1972) A gospel classic deeply indebted to the spiritual tradition, Franklin's performance reminds listeners that sacred music remained central to African American cultural and political life long after slavery. Natural Mystic, Bob Marley (1977) Marley's meditation on history, suffering, spirituality, and collective destiny echoes the prophetic dimensions of the spirituals. Like the sorrow songs, "Natural Mystic" suggests that beneath visible events lie deeper moral and spiritual currents shaping human history. Jah Guide, Peter Tosh (1977) Tosh's prayer for divine guidance extends the spiritual tradition into the Rastafari Movement and the wider Africa

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In collaboration with the Center for African and African American Studies/The CAAAS at the University of Colorado Boulder, The Cause is more than a podcast, it's a call to action. Guided by Dr. Reiland Rabaka, this inspiring series invites you to explore the transformative power of music, the wisdom of history, and the promise of democracy in the pursuit of racial justice. Through courageous conversations, insightful reflections, and powerful storytelling, The Cause amplifies voices and stories too often unheard. Together, we'll challenge injustices, break down societal misconceptions, and inspire each other to build a world where equality is not just an ideal, but a shared reality. Join us in this movement. Listen to The Cause, and become part of the collective journey to create a more just, inclusive, and vibrant future for all.

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