Although it was snubbed for Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 1990, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing stands the test of time as one of the best films ever made. Shot on a one-block stretch of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Do the Right Thing offers timeless depictions of both interracial tension and unity without ever nearing tasteless caricature or mind-numbing cliché. The cinematography, dripping with the oversaturated red of summer heat, makes the viewer feel they’re sitting right there on the stoop, fanning themselves and watching the scenes unfold—just as Mother Sister does from her brownstone window.

Submitted by Leah Asha Allen, Program Coordinator, The Friends of Education