Spike Lee has never been one to shy away from controversy.  In the 1988 film School Daze, Lee gives a semi-autobiographical account of his experience attending Morehouse College, the historically all male black institution in Atlanta, Georgia.  With a satirical eye, Lee explored hot-button topics such as colorism, misogyny, class divisions and apartheid.

While School Daze opened to some positive reviews with mainstream film critics, segments of the African-American community were unhappy with Lee airing their dirty laundry. In fact, Lee was asked to halt production while filming on the campuses of Morehouse, Spelman, and Clark Atlanta University because they felt School Daze cast black colleges in a negative light.  Coincidentally, some cast members of the film (Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Darryl M. Bell) would go on to star in Bill Cosby’s sitcom, “A Different World,” which gave a more positive and sympathetic view of  black college life.  Lee would continue to be a cinematic provocateur, going on to direct racially and politically charged dramas like Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, and Bamboozled.

The Urban Daily lists five reasons why School Daze continues to be one of the best films about higher learning.

Lawrence Fishburne—Fishburne gives a winning performance as Vaughn “Dap” Dunlap.  Dap is outspoken and politically progressive, but in a cruel twist of fate, his views are not welcome in setting that should foster independent thinking.  Between his pressuring school administrators to divest from South Africa and bumping heads with fraternity head Dean Big Brother Almighty (Giancarlo Esposito), Dap is considered Public Enemy #1.

Good Hair—In one of School Daze’s most memorable musical numbers, the two sororities on campus tackle one of black America’s dirty little secrets.  The light-skinned “Wannabes” and the browner, earthier looking “Jigaboos” is a painful reminder of the daily struggle black women endure  in a country that judges them on a Eurocentric standard of beauty.

Samuel Jackson—Jackson plays one of the town locals, who has  a serious inferiority complex when it comes to the students at Mission College.  In a confrontation with Dap and his boys, Jackson states “College don’t mean shit…Y’all n*ggas and y’all gonna be niggas forever—just like us!” In 2011, the class lines in the black community are still sharply drawn as evidenced by the feuds between Grant Hill and Jalen Rose, and the Spike Lee vs. Tyler Perry debate .

Soundtrack—Who would have thought that a movie as serious and topical as School Daze would produce one of the 80’s hottest club bangers?  E.U., a go-go group from Washington D.C. scored a pop hit with “Da Butt” creating a new dance sensation, and charted at #35 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. And who could forget Tisha Campbell’s “I Don’t Wanna Be Alone Tonight?”


The Ending—No Spike Lee movie is ever complete without a ‘message’. After witnessing the debauchery during homecoming weekend, Dap takes matters into his own hands and literally shake some sense into the student body. Lee would prove eerily prophetic in this dramatic ending, as our people battle alarming statistics today: almost 70% of black children are born into single parent homes and only 47% of black males earning high school diplomas. We indeed need to “WAKE UP!”

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Here are 4 Reasons why I think we should abandon that statement or anything like it.

For example, President Bill Clinton is frequently called “black” because of his behavior during his eight year stint in the White House; most commonly referring to his incident with Secretary Monica Lewinsky. While people joke that he probably received fellatio from the young women it somehow turned into “Clinton is black.” How does cheating on ones wife become a race issue? However it does– I’d prefer if he wasn’t called black because of something negative like adultery.

As a person of a certain complexion you MAY be treated differently depending on how dark the color of your skin is. A powerful/rich white man does not encounter the same treatment as a black man therefore should not be labeled something he is not and has no idea about.

Being black when convenient like during election time to get a minority vote doesn’t constitute you as black either.

Last but not least…they weren’t the tad bit of African American so why call them one?

Once again this is my OPINION, share yours in the comment section.

Black Presidents In The Movies

1 Little Fockers
$26,300,000

2 True Grit (2010)
$24,500,000

3 Tron Legacy
$18,306,000

4 Yogi Bear
$13,000,000

5 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
$10,500,000

6 Tangled
$10,008,000

7 The Fighter
$10,000,000

8 Gulliver’s Travels
$9,100,000

9 Black Swan
$8,450,000

10 The King’s Speech
$7,649,000

Congratulations go out to our Hillside High School 4A State Football Championship Team. Now it is time for all Hillside Alumni to step up and help our great football team receive their championship rings. Contrary to popular belief, the NC High School Athletic Association does not provide championship rings. It is up to the individual schools and their booster to purchase rings for their championship teams. Let us show our team how proud we are of their perfect season of 16-0 that culminated in a state 4A championship.

Please send your tax deductible contribution to NAAHHS, PO Box 51758, Durham NC 27717 (write Championship Ring Fund on the memo line of your check). You may also make a contribution through Pay Pal.

Thank you for your generous support!

Sincerely,
Dr. F. Vincent Allison III
President
National Alumni Association of Hillside High School
www.naahhs.org

The basic plot is Driver who gets out of jail after 10 years and goes after the men who killed his brother in front of him and tried to kill him.

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Special thanks to North Hills Regal Cinema 14 for allowing us to review the movie.

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Special thanks to North Hills Regal Cinema 14 for allowing us to review the movie!

A young woman gets her dream job of being the director of a morning talk show on a major network but the bad part is that it’s the lowest rated show. She does what she can do to make the show better. A lot better!

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Regal North Hills Stadium:

The play is the story of 7 women who are trying to deal with life, but the play was a group of poems that each character recited with full emotion. So how do you make that kind of play into a movie?

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