In a recent visit to his alma mater, Morehouse College, a student journalist asked Lee how it felt to be back, and his response was classic:
“Back?” Lee asked the student. “I never left Morehouse.” said Lee.
Lee is an Atlanta native and a third-generation man of Morehouse. The Atlanta University Center which includes his alma mater, Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College, from which his mother and grandmother graduated, has been a heavy influence on Lee’s career.
He recalls his time at Morehouse, “My grandmother worked for 50 years and saved her Social Security checks for her grandchildren’s college educations…I was able to see my grandmother every day, and that meant I got a good meal every day. And on Sunday I was able to bring a group of guys.”
The film School Daze was inspired by Lee’s time at Morehouse from 1975-1979.
School Daze was released February 12, 1988 and is an American musical comedy-drama film, written and directed by Lee. The film stars Larry Fishburne, Tisha Campbell-Martin and Giancarlo Esposito. The film is about members of fraternities and sororities clashing with their classmates on campus at a historically black college. Other topics explored in Lee’s second feature film include self-esteem, classism, colorism, elitism, hazing, social mobility, hair texture bias, and activism.
