Last Thursday, November 11th, I was privileged to be able to listen to the great filmmaker Spike Lee as he spoke to the University of North Texas students. I have grown up with Spike Lee in a way, all culminating with his amazing HBO documentary, "If God willing and the Creek Don't Rise." Honestly, I was expecting Lee to be dressed in fancy clothes and to speak so eloquently that I would be mesmerized by what he was saying, what I got was a man who reminded me of my grandpa, a soft spoken man with wisdsom beyond time.
I love how he spoke of not knowing what his final career destination was and how he was not the best student academically. But it was so encouraging to to hear him speak about the summer he discovered his passion. I have yet to have that lightning bolt moment, but to hear him speak of his makes the search easier.
His views on the Black culture at the current time are spot on. I agreed with every opinion, especially the about how we criticize our fellow Black students for succeeding academically. His statements about how black students who speak with eloquence and correct diction are called "white" rang extremely true with me seeing how I was called that from age five to the current day. Fortunately, I knew well enough that people were teasing me because of pure jealousy or simply because they did not understand my personality. But what if a Black student is not strong enough to withstand the teasing? Then thats when we have the pseudo mentality that to be a "true Black person" you need to behave as a caricature, a stereotype, a mold that society can understand. My hope is to change this, with every person I meet and with every interaction that takes place, I want to shatter a stereotype and be an example of a strong Black woman.
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