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

🎙️ Episode 7 Show NotesEpisode Title: Music as Memory: Dr. Fredara Hadley on Music as Culture and W.E.B. Du Bois (Part 2)Episode SummaryIn 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 EpisodeHow Du Bois’ upbringing in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, shaped his musical lensThe impact of blackface minstrelsy on perceptions of Black musicDu Bois’ critique of jazz and its cultural implicationsThe role of respectability politics and racial uplift ideologyThe musical and intellectual contributions of Shirley Graham Du BoisHow Black music functions as memory, preservation, and cultural truthWhy we must avoid reducing historical figures to modern-day soundbitesSpecial GuestDr. Fredara Hadley – Ethnomusicologist, educator, and scholar of African American music and culture.https://www.juilliard.edu/faculty/hadley-fredara Film MentionedAmerican Masters W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause premieres May 19, 2026Share 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/2598323Stay connected https://linktr.ee/ritacoburnmediaListen, 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 WhackSource: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs DivisionRights: No known restrictions on publicationhttps://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014637057/