![]() “By the time I was a senior, ” she told Mother Jones, “I was being channeled into white colleges. Recalled his sister Joie, who was a private school student. Opened film production studio 40 Acres and a Mule, 1987, and first Spike ’s Joint promotional outlet, 1990.Īwards: 1983 Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ’ Student Academy Award for Joe ’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads Cannes Film Festival ’s Prix de Jeunesse, 1986, for She ’s Gotta Have It two Academy Award nominations for Do the Right Thing.Īddresses: Office -40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, 124 DeKalb Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217. ![]() Directed Joe ’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, 1982 launched Hollywood career with low-budget, black-and-white film She ’s Gotta Have It, 1986 also director of music videos and commercials for Nike, Levi-Strauss, and Diet Coke. Education: Morehouse College, B.A., 1979 New York University, M.F.A., 1982. “Spike used to point out the differences in our friends, ” At a Glance …īorn Shelton Jackson Lee, March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, GA son of William (a musician and composer) and Jacquelyn (a teacher maiden name, Shelton) Lee. When he and his siblings were offered the option of attending the predominantly white private school where his mother taught, Lee opted instead to go the public route, where he would be assured of the companionship of black peers. ” His father, Bill, an accomplished jazz musician, introduced him to African American jazz and folk legends like Miles Davis and Odetta.īy the time he was old enough to attend school, the already independent Lee had earned the nickname his mother had given him as an infant, Spike -an allusion to his toughness. “And I ’m glad my mother made me do that. “I was forced to read Langston Hughes, that kind of stuff, ” Lee told Vanity Fair. His mother, Jacquelyn, infected her children with a schoolteacher ’s enthusiasm for black art and literature. Lee ’s awareness of his African American identity was established at an. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, an area that would figure largely in his work as a mature filmmaker. Shelton Jackson Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on the eve of the civil rights era. We have so many stories to tell, but we can ’t do them all. The industry is more receptive than it has ever been for black films and black actors. ![]() “Every time there is a success, ” he explained to Ebony, “it makes it easier for other blacks. “Spike put this trend in vogue, ” Warner Bros, executive vice president Mark Canton told Time. Following the unforseen box office success of Lee ’s earliest films, Hollywood ’s gates have opened to a new generation of young African American filmmakers. ” “I guess you could call me an instigator, ” Lee admitted in an interview with Vogue.Īlthough the bane of Hollywood executives, Lee ’s delight in playing the provocateur has not only made his own films bankable, but has also created an industry-wide awareness of an untapped market niche. “There ’s a gleeful look he gets, a certain kind of excitement in his eyes when shit is being stirred up. “Spike loves to fight, ” the filmmaker ’s friend and business associate Nelson George told Vanity Fair. From his earliest days as a student filmmaker to his $33-million epic Malcolm X, Lee has shown a willingness to tackle prickly issues of relevance to the black community -and has savored every ounce of controversy his films invariably produce. “Fight the power, ” the theme song to his 1989 film Do the Right Thing, could easily be Spike Lee ’s personal motto. Scored a Surprise Hit with She ’s Gotta Have ItĮxplored Racial Tensions in Do the Right ThingĮxamined Interracial Love in Jungle Fever
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