Rita Coburn Whack

Rita Coburn is an American director, producer, writer, and radio personality. She has worked in television, film, and radio, with a focus on projects related to African-American history and culture. Coburn is the CEO and owner of RCW Media Productions, Inc., a multimedia production company established in 2010.

Early Life and Education Coburn was born in Harvey, Illinois, to Willie E. and Charlie G. Coburn. She grew up in Phoenix, Illinois, with her sister, Joyce. She produced content for television stations such as WBBM, WTTW, and WYCC in Chicago, as well as for The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah Radio, and Walt Disney Productions.

Coburn began her career in broadcasting in 1980 as a production assistant at WBBM-TV in Chicago. She held production roles at the Satellite News Channel (1981), WNEW-TV (1982), KDKA-TV (1984–1990), WPXI-TV (until 1991), and The Jenny Jones Show (until 1993).

Coburn directed the documentary African Roots, African Soil: African Americans in Agriculture in the mid-1990s, which aired on WBBM-TV. In 1998, she joined WBEZ in Chicago as a producer and host for programs including Eight Forty-Eight. From 2006, she worked as a producer for Oprah Radio at Harpo Productions and was a contributor to WBEZ.

In 2016, Coburn co-directed and co-produced Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise with Bob Hercules, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on PBS's American Masters in 2017. She directed Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands (2022) for American Masters. She produced San Juan Hill: Manhattan's Lost Neighborhood (2024).

Coburn directed, wrote, and produced W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause (2026), a documentary for PBS's American Masters series. It is scheduled to premiere at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles March 2026, Cleveland International Film Festival in April 2026 and nationally on PBS on May 19, 2026. In 2026, she launched the podcast Our Truth Our History Our Story: Our THS.

Awards Chicago / Midwest Emmy Award (1995–1996) for African Roots, African Soil: African Americans in Agriculture Chicago / Midwest Emmy Award (2000–2001) for Remembering 47th Street Chicago / Midwest Emmy Award (2005) for Curators of Culture Mill Valley Film Festival Audience Award (2016) for Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise Milwaukee Film Festival Audience Award (2016) for Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise AFI Docs Audience Award (2016) for Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise Peabody Award (2017) for Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise Ebertfest Icon Award (2019) for Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship Award (2023) in Media Arts