Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee hears Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 48-year-old call to action, conveyed in the “I Have a Dream Speech,” loud and clear. With more than 25 years of filmmaking experience, creating cinema that has spawned controversy, garnered critical acclaim and even conveyed pointed political messages, Lee has proven his insight and his brand is stronger than ever.
The SpikeDDB ad agency, where Lee has a 50 percent stake, created the TV commercial that features Americans from every racial and socioeconomic class taking their seats at the perpetual “Table of Brotherhood,” which weaves its way through streets, schools, restaurants and along the beach — leading up to the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall. The commercial was created for Chevrolet, who named SpikeDDB the African American agency of record in the fall of 2010.
“We’ve seen outstanding work from Spike DDB for their current clients and the creative approach they offer Chevrolet will be a great fit for the brand,” said Chris Perry, U.S. VP of Chevrolet marketing when they inked the deal.
Lee maintains his film-production company, 40 Acres and a Mule. His most recent “outstanding work” that tugged at the heartstrings of Americans was the documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, which was an examination of the U.S. government’s role and response to Hurricane Katrina that aired on HBO.
He was once quoted saying, “I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don’t have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I’m still bankable.” Years after this declaration, Lee won the Orizzonti Documentary Prize, one of two FIPRESCI awards, three awards at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards and received a Peabody Award for the groundbreaking series.
At the launch of the Chevrolet sponsored Table of Brotherhood Tour, which honors the legacy of Dr. King and culminates with the Aug. 28 dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C., Lee stood on the stage at his alma mater and true to his character offered compelling words and castigated unconscious blacks.
“I am happy to be here at Morehouse [College]. We should remember that Dr. King was a Morehouse man and so was his father, Daddy King. We are talking about a great tradition of education. We as black people have gotten away from education. Our ancestors worked from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night knowing that one day education would be the way to get us out of the bondage of slavery. We knew [then] education was the vehicle to get us to where we need to be. We have gone wayward. We live in a world today where if you are an intelligent young black kid, who speaks ‘correct’ English, that you were chastised as a white girl, white boy, Oreo [or] sellout. I think hope has a lot to do with this. We live in the world where education is not something to be proud of. We have to include hip-hop, not all hip-hop, the music video and the lyrics … all of this stuff is crazy. We have a lot of black folks who pray before the pulpit of the almighty dollar and will put their mother on the corner for a dollar bill. All they care about is making money, no matter who it hurts. That’s the kind of thinking that will be our deaths.”
Lee’s comments have merit; education is the equalizer that levels the playing field for black to achieve economic equality and seize the dream Dr. King so eloquently prophesied for us.
He continues, “The misguided young black minds somehow equates education [with being] white and ignorance equals black, which means you’re ghetto or whatever ignorant term you want to use. We have our young black kids who are entering kindergarten with less than 250 words in their vocabulary. Their parents have sat them down in front of TV and let it entertain them. I am not out here to chastise single black women because you are working two big jobs trying to raise your kids. These video games don’t help either. It is suicide for us to make fun of young black minds that want to achieve. We need to turn that around.” –yvette caslin
Table of Brotherhood | Chevrolet Honors MLK | Chevy Runs Deep
