Spike Lee and Gersh Establish Fellowship Program for HBCU Film Students

By Evie B.

if) I opened a crack in the door, I was bringing as many Black and brown folks with me in front and behind the camera,” Lee said in a news release on Thursday.

Lee has been a constant advocate for the development of minority educational institutions and has championed the significance of HBCUs on and off the screen. The importance of historically Black colleges and universities to him stems from the fact that he comes from a long line of alums.

“I know firsthand the education one receives at a Historically Black College and University,” Lee noted. “I am who I am because of my grandmother [Zimmie Jackson] and my mother [Jacquelyn Shelton Lee], who both graduated from Spelman College. I am who I am because of my grandfather [Richard Jackson Shelton] and my father [William Lee], who both graduated from Morehouse. It’s on the campuses of Spelman and Morehouse where they met, fell in love and got married. As my elders often told me, ‘Deeds not words.’”

Gersh, much like Lee, has a history of getting behind social causes, both as a company and on behalf of its clients.

“As industry leaders, we’ve always taken seriously the responsibility to build a more diverse, dynamic