The Brilliance of BlacKkKlansman
Spike Lee goes back in time to shed light on today’s racial and cultural discord
Note: This piece contains spoilers for the film BlacKkKlansman.
Spike Lee’s latest movie, BlacKkKlansman, is one of his best — but not for the reasons you might expect.
I saw the movie earlier this summer ahead of interviewing its leading man, John David Washington, for the cover of Backstage magazine. Despite the fact that I’m a Black artist with a deep respect for Spike Lee’s talents, I went in skeptical. I left, however, moved to tears.
My skepticism was more about this moment in history. I wasn’t sure of our country’s ability to receive, accept or honestly appraise whatever story Spike would tell based on his vast historical knowledge. In addition to the obvious rhetorical challenges we have as a society, there is, at heart, a fundamental breach in how each faction of our society views fact, truth, and matters of historical record. The largest division, the one I think about the most because it impacts my life most directly, is the divide between how my people — Black people — view belonging, citizenship, and…
