Lights, Camera, Civil Rights Action

Legendary director Spike Lee tells Newsweek about promoting social justice through his storytelling and why he's been urging people to get out and vote

- DEVIN ROBERTSON

DIRECTOR SPIKE LEE HAS LONG BEEN LAUDED FOR HIS films exploring topics like race relations and other issues facing the Black community in the United States, and has recently been recognized for this.

The two-time Academy Award winner made his movie debut with 1986's She's Gotta Have It and went on to earn a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination for 1989's highly acclaimed Do the Right Thing-both of which he wrote, produced and directed.

But it wasn't until 2019 that Lee won a competitive Oscar-Best Adapted Screenplay for BlackkKlansman-four years after receiving an honorary Academy Award.

Outside his highly successful Hollywood career, Lee is well known for his love of the NBA's New York Knicks, and is almost always seen courtside at their games. He played a significant role in helping boost the popularity of basketball legend Michael Jordan and Nike's Air Jordan brand. Lee's self-portrayed Mars Blackmon character from She's Gotta Have It took a prominent role in a series of commercials, saying the key factor in Jordan's success has "gotta be the shoes." The long-lasting partnership between Lee and Jordan led to the NBA great playing a key funding role in the production of Lee's 1992 biographical movie Malcolm X about the activist.

In celebration of his art and efforts promoting racial equality through his films, Lee was an honoree at the 33rd annual Freedom Award, held on October 17 by the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. He was recognized alongside lawyer and Howard University professor Sherrilyn Ifill and civil rights activist Xernona Clayton, who once traveled on speaking tours with Coretta Scott King and helped organize marches with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.