Aug 4, 2026 · 49 min · 12 segments
Dr. Reiland Rabaka, founder and director of the…
Reiland RabakaGuestChanda Thomas WhitfieldHost
Um, a lot of people felt, I don't know if you remember, but you know, part of the theme, Chanda, we were talking about was Sam Cooke's It's Been a Long Time Coming.
It's been a long, a long time coming.
But I know a change gonna come.
Oh yes it will.
I go to the movie.
And I go downtown.
Somebody keep telling me don't hang around.
It's been a long, a long time coming.
But I know a change gonna come.
Oh yes it will.
Then I go to my brother.
And I say, "Brother, help me, please." But he winds up knocking me back down on my knees.
Lord, there been times that I thought I couldn't last for long.
And we felt like this center, establishing it in Colorado was a long time coming.
Other major public universities had had centers like this since the 1960s and the early 1970s.
And so there's a sense in which there was a kind of urgency that I wanted to bring to, um, the establishing of the center.
As you know, it grew out of a period where, uh, Black Lives Matter was all the rage.
And so it was one of the ways we could let folks know that people in Colorado felt very seriously about what was happening in the world at the time, and we wanted to sort of have a memorial, if you will, some kind of monument, some kind of symbol, um, that we take human life very seriously.
But in this state in particular, we wanted to accent, um, the special contributions that African Americans have made, African people have made, Caribbean people have made, to the great state of Colorado.
And so I'm just really honored to be, you know, sort of leading that, uh, culmination of years and years and years of struggle, uh, here in Colorado.
You mentioned the grand opening, and I do mean it was a grand opening.
Um, a lot of people felt, I don't know if you remember, but you know, part of the theme, Chanda, we were talking about was Sam Cooke's It's Been a Long Time Coming.
It's been a long, a long time coming.
But I know a change gonna come.
Oh yes it will.
I go to the movie.
And I go downtown.
Somebody keep telling me don't hang around.
It's been a long, a long time coming.
But I know a change gonna come.
Oh yes it will.
Then I go to my brother.
And I say, "Brother, help me, please." But he winds up knocking me back down on my knees.
Lord, there been times that I thought I couldn't last for long.
And we felt like this center, establishing it in Colorado was a long time coming.
Other major public universities had had centers like this since the 1960s and the early 1970s.
And so there's a sense in which there was a kind of urgency that I wanted to bring to, um, the establishing of the center.
As you know, it grew out of a period where, uh, Black Lives Matter was all the rage.
And so it was one of the ways we could let folks know that people in Colorado felt very seriously about what was happening in the world at the time, and we wanted to sort of have a memorial, if you will, some kind of monument, some kind of symbol, um, that we take human life very seriously.
But in this state in particular, we wanted to accent, um, the special contributions that African Americans have made, African people have made, Caribbean people have made, to the great state of Colorado.
And so I'm just really honored to be, you know, sort of leading that, uh, culmination of years and years and years of struggle, uh, here in Colorado.
You mentioned the grand opening, and I do mean it was a grand opening.
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