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.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
