We Speak Events
SPIKE LEE TO SPEAK AT UAPB FEBRUARY 6
Oscar award winning Director Spike Lee will be the featured speaker during the annual black history month assembly at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The free, public event will be held Tuesday, February 6 at 10:30 a.m. in the Kenneth L. Johnson, Sr. HPER Complex.
In addition to being an award-winning director, Lee is also a, Writer, Actor, Producer, Author, and NYU Grad Film Tenured Professor whose body of work has continued to grow over the last three decades. Lee co-wrote his latest film Chi-Raq with Kevin Willmott based on the Greek comedy Lysistrata by Aristophanes. He has directed and produced over 30 films since his first feature film, the independently produced She’s Gotta Have It which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986 and received the esteemed Prix de la Jeunesse Award. Lee continues to produce Cinematic works of Art that display his skill and ability to showcase outspoken and provocative socio-political critiques that challenge cultural assumptions, about Race, Class and Gender identity. His film, Do the Right Thing, released in 1989, earned Lee an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and remains still relevant today.
Lee has also produced several documentaries, including the Academy Award nominated 4 Little Girls and the Peabody and Emmy Award winning films When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, all with HBO. In addition to his Michael Jackson trilogy of Documentary, BAD 25, original ‘off the wall’ and the upcoming widely anticipated trailer. In addition to his prolific film career, Lee has directed and produced numerous music videos and his commercial work began in 1988 with his Nike Air Jordan campaign. Ever moving into new areas, Lee combined his extensive creative experience into yet another venture with DDB Needham to create Spike/DDB, a full-service advertising agency. Lee has also authored several books, including Five For Five, a pictorial
reflection of his first five features, Best Seat in the House, with Ralph Wiley, and two children’s books Please, Baby, Please and Please, Puppy, Please, co-authored with Tonya Lewis Lee, his wife.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Brooklyn, Lee returned south to attend Morehouse College. After graduation, he returned to New York City to continue his education at NYU/Tisch, where he received his MFA in Film Production. After graduation, he founded 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, based in Brooklyn. He began teaching a course on filmmaking at Harvard in 1991 and in 1993 he started on the Faculty at NYU/Tisch in the Graduate Film Program where he was appointed Artistic Director in 2002, a position which he still holds.
We Speak Events
Atlanta Screening of The Alabama Solution Brings Together Panel of Advocates, Leaders, and Community Voices
ATLANTA, GA — Community leaders, advocates, and residents gathered in Atlanta for a special screening of the Oscar-nominated HBO documentary The Alabama Solution, an evening centered on film, dialogue, and community engagement around issues of justice and incarceration.
Hosted at 2345 Cheshire Bridge Road NE, the event brought together organizations and community members for a formal evening of reflection and conversation following the powerful documentary. The film, co-directed by Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman and co-produced by Alex Duran, offers an intimate and unfiltered look into Alabama’s prison system.
At the heart of the documentary are the voices of justice-impacted individuals Melvin “Bennu” Ray and Robert “Kinetik” Council, whose experiences shed light on the realities inside the prison system while challenging viewers to consider deeper questions about accountability, dignity, and reform.
Following the screening, a panel discussion brought together leaders and advocates working in justice reform and community outreach. The conversation was moderated by Bridgette Simpson of Barred Business, who guided the dialogue with panelists representing several organizations committed to addressing issues within the justice system.
Panelists included Gerald Griggs of the NAACP, Kimberly Jones of Fork the System, Octavious Holiday of the Positive Outreach Development Society, Kevin Marshall of The Marshall Law Group, LLC, Kathryn Hamoudah of the Southern Center for Human Rights, and Christopher Willars of The Life Unit Inc.
Each panelist offered insight shaped by their work in advocacy, legal reform, and community engagement. Their perspectives highlighted the far-reaching effects incarceration can have on families and communities, while also emphasizing the importance of awareness, accountability, and continued dialogue around the issues presented in the film.
The screening was supported by several organizations dedicated to justice and civic engagement, including One for Justice, Dream.org, Barred Business, the Southern Center for Human Rights, The Life Unit, the Center for Civic Innovation, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and the Free Atlanta Abolition Movement.
The evening also served as a moment of connection for those in attendance, including family members and advocates whose lives have been impacted by the justice system. Through film and conversation, the gathering created space for reflection and for communities to engage with the realities highlighted in the documentary.
As conversations continued after the screening, the event underscored the power of storytelling to bring people together, raise awareness, and encourage deeper consideration of issues that often remain unseen by the public.
As momentum continues to grow around conversations sparked by the documentary, organizers are encouraging community members to take an additional step by supporting efforts aimed at protecting justice-impacted individuals from discrimination.
Advocates are currently inviting the public to sign a virtual petition card supporting the establishment of a statewide Protected Class Ordinance in Georgia, which would help ensure justice-impacted individuals are protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and opportunity.
You may find and share the virtual petition here:
Statewide Protected Class
https://www.theprotectedclassnetwork.org/sign-our-petition
