Premieres Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream with KPBS+ / Encore Wednesday, May 27 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2
AMERICAN MASTERS announced the new documentary "W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With A Cause" from Peabody Award-winning director Rita Coburn. The film examines remarkable life from his birth, just five years after the Emancipation Proclamation; to his death, on the eve of the March on Washington in 1963, and how his legacy as an activist continues to resonate today.
Eight ways W.E.B. Du Bois used art as activism
Born on Feb. 23, 1868, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois lived through the collapse of Reconstruction through two World Wars to the rise of the Civil Rights Movement.
The film follows his life chronologically, enriched by commentary from leading scholars, historians, artists, and biographers including Raymond Arsenault, Karida Brown, Eric Foner, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Eddie Glaude Jr., Nikole Hannah-Jones, David Levering Lewis, Imani Perry, and more.
For Du Bois, the power of the pen was his greatest weapon. He authored more than 20 books and fused scholarship with activism, deploying literature, data, and groundbreaking infographics to expose the roots of systemic racism. Drawing from his books, articles, speeches, and archival audio, "Rebel With A Cause" illuminates the poetry and force of his language through
dramatic readings by Common, Courtney B. Vance, and Jeffrey Wright, with narration by Viola Davis.
"Rebel With A Cause" charts this visionary’s singular journey by exploring both his monumental achievements and his deeply personal struggles. From the loss of his infant son to his lifelong battles with systemic racism, Du Bois’s humanity shaped his activism, enabling him to transcend the social constraints of the early 20th century and elevate the lives of Black people worldwide — inspiring leaders from the Harlem Renaissance to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A rebel against the status quo, Du Bois relentlessly spearheaded the fight for racial justice. By showing the world “The Souls of Black Folk,” through his 1903 book by that same name, he prophetically declared: “The problem of the 20th century is the color line.” He co-founded the NAACP, helped launch the Niagara Movement, challenged contemporaries such as Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey, and contributed to the founding of the United Nations.
Filmmaker Quotes:
“My hope is that this documentary invites reflection and sparks dialogue, not only about who Du Bois was, but about the world we continue to shape in his wake,” said director Rita Coburn. “His life reminds us that scholarship and art, grounded in truth, can be weapons against oppression. To tell his story is to affirm that the pursuit of justice is as urgent today as it was in his time.”
“Dr. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois lived from 1868 to 1963, and he devoted his life to helping us all understand what he called ‘the problem of the color line,’” said Michael Kantor, Executive Producer of AMERICAN MASTERS. “Though even the brilliant Dr. Du Bois couldn’t solve this problem, his teachings and his influence couldn’t resonate more strongly today.”
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Credits: Peabody Award-winning director Rita Coburn. A co-production of RCW Media Productions, Inc., American Masters Pictures and Black Public Media with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in association with the Center for Independent Documentary
