In 1989, Lee made perhaps his most seminal film, Do the Right Thing, which focused on a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension on a hot summer day. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites.' Scott wrote that the film 'ushered in (along with Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise) the American independent film movement of the 1980s. When the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $7 million at the U.S. Lee wrote, directed, produced, starred and edited the film with a budget of $175,000, he shot the film in two weeks. The film was Lee's first feature-length film, and launched Lee's career.

The black-and-white film concerns a young woman (played by Tracy Camilla Johns) who is seeing three men, and the feelings this arrangement provokes. In 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film, She's Gotta Have It. Lee's father, Bill Lee, composed the score. The film was the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Center's New Directors New Films Festival.

Dickerson worked on the film as assistant director and cinematographer, respectively. Lee submitted the film as his master's degree thesis at the Tisch School of the Arts. In 1983, Lee premiered his first independent short film titled, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads. He did graduate work at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in film and television. He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a B.A. Lee enrolled in Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta, where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn's Gravesend neighborhood. His mother nicknamed him 'Spike' during his childhood. When he was a child, the family moved from Atlanta to Brooklyn, New York. His youngest sibling is half-brother Arnold. Lee has five younger siblings, three of whom ( Joie, David, and Cinqué) have worked in many different positions in Lee's films a fourth, Christopher, died in 2014. Shelton Jackson Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Jacqueline Carroll ( née Shelton), a teacher of arts and black literature, and William James Edward Lee III, a jazz musician and composer. Lee's films Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, 4 Little Girls and She's Gotta Have It were each selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'. Jackson, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez, Delroy Lindo and John David Washington. His films have featured breakthrough and acclaimed performances from actors such as Denzel Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Lee also acted in eleven of his feature films. He has since written and directed such films as School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Crooklyn (1994), Clockers (1995), 25th Hour (2002), Inside Man (2006), Chi-Raq (2015), BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Da 5 Bloods (2020). He made his directorial debut with She's Gotta Have It (1986). His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He has also been honored with an Honorary BAFTA Award in 2002, an Honorary César in 2003, the Academy Honorary Award in 2019, and a Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center as well as the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. Lee has won numerous accolades for his work, including an Academy Award, a Student Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Peabody Awards. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Shelton Jackson ' Spike' Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.

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