Today marks the 25th anniversary of Do The Right Thing; Spike Lee’s classic film about race relations in late 80’s Bed-Stuy. This past Saturday, Spike Lee hosted an old school neighborhood block party between Lexington Avenue and Quincy Street, where he filmed the motion picture, because that city block will be denoted “Do the Right Thing Way.”
Just like the film itself, it was a hot day in Stuyvesant Avenue. However, the hate and racism that plagues the characters of Spike Lee’s film was not seen in the faces of the many who came from all over the city to celebrate Lee’s film. People of all races could be seen dancing, laughing or just vibing to to the variety of music which perfectly represented the diversity that still holds in this small neighborhood in Brooklyn. The DJ spun Jazz, Hip Hop, and Salsa, and there were major Brooklyn musical acts such as Erykah Badu and Yasiin Bey delighting the crowd with their presence.
Comedian Dave Chappelle also made an appearance to show his appreciation — quite the rarity for the erratic comedian. Spike Lee was on stage and seen around the neighborhood through the entire event, shaking hands, signing books and taking pictures. Toward the end of the party, we felt like there was something missing — something to make the whole party feel truly feel special. The filling to this hole in the night came from none other than Public Enemy frontman, Chuck D. In a moment that caused many people to cross something off their bucket list, D performed his powerful and most remembered song “Fight The Power” (a song, created specifically for the film as a favor to Spike Lee) making the crowd re-live the iconic music video also filmed in the neighborhood.
Last Saturday’s block party was everything it should have been. It was inspirational, it was Hip-Hop, it was Brooklyn.
If you think you saw him wearing his giant flavor flav clock at the block party, get in touch with the author @TatteredFedora