In an interview with FRANCE 24 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, the producer Tonya Lewis Lee, discussed their appointment as thematic ambassadors to Benin for the African American diaspora in the United States. The West African nation is offering citizenship to descendants of enslaved Africans without requiring investment. "Our brothers and sisters in Benin are telling us: come home, welcome us home, come back to the motherland. Come back [to] where your roots are," Spike Lee said.
The couple see their role as spreading the word. "We could be a blueprint" for other African nations to follow Benin's example in offering citizenship to descendants of enslaved people, they told FRANCE 24's Marc Perelman.
Asked about the current political climate in the United States under President Donald Trump, Spike Lee described it as "the year of living dangerously," referencing the 1982 Peter Weir film.
'Trump will not be president forever'
Tonya Lewis Lee addressed race relations directly. "To me, Donald Trump is nothing new. I think he's he's saying the quiet parts out loud," she said, adding that her parents grew up in the segregated South. "I think we make we make a lot of progress, and then we make steps backwards, and then we make progress again."
Despite the challenges, she remains hopeful: "The good news is, Donald Trump will not be president forever. And people will rise up, as they are [doing]."
Spike Lee concurred, pointing to the recent example of comedian Jimmy Kimmel being taken off the air and then reinstated after a public outcry.
"People are being galvanised by what's happening in the White House. So justice is going to prevail."
English (US) · 