Spike Lee Endorses ‘Brother’ Bernie Sanders

Image by Getty Images

By Lior Zaltzman February 23, 2016

Film director Spike Lee has officially endorsed fellow Brooklyn native Bernie Sanders for President.

In a radio ad riffing off his cult movie “Do The Right Thing,” Lee calls for South Carolinians to wake up and back Sanders for president, because “When Bernie is in the White House, he will do the right thing.”

In an attempt to help Sanders win the black vote, which is especially significant in South Carolina (where black voters make up more than 50% of turnout), Lee goes on to praise Sanders’s record on civil rights.

“Bernie was in the March on Washington with Dr. King,” Lee says in the ad. “He was arrested in Chicago for protesting segregation in public schools. He fought for wealth and education equality through-out his whole career. No flippin’, no floppin’.”

Spike Lee is well know for his expansive, three decade filmmaking career, in which he often dealt with issues of race and inequality, from his Hurricane Katrina documentary, “When the Levees Broke,” to his most recent film, “Chi-Raq,” a commentary on Chicago gang violence told through a reinterpretation of the classic Greek play “Lysistrata.”

Lee isn’t the only well-known African-American cultural figure to have endorsed Sanders. Rapper Killer Mike already endorsed the candidate way back in November. He spent some time with Sanders at his favorite soul-food joint and got some quality fist-bump action with the former Vermont senator at his barbershop.

Hillary Clinton, for her part, has recruited supporter Morgan Freeman to help narrate her most recent campaign ad.

The South Carolina Democratic primary is slated to take place on Saturday, February 27.

Lior Zaltzman was the Forward’s Digital Fellow. Follow her on twitter @liorca.

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