Spike Lee
Actor | Director | Producer | Writer
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Spike Lee was born Shelton Lee in 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from a proud and intelligent background. His father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a school teacher. His mother dubbed him Spike, due to his tough nature. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta and developed his film making skills at Clark Atlanta University. After graduating, he went to the Tisch School of Arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, The Answer (1980), a reworking of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) -- a ten-minute film. Lee went on to produce a 45-minute film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), which won a student academy award. Lee's next film, "The Messenger," in 1984, was somewhat biographical. In 1986, Spike Lee made the film, She's Gotta Have It (1986), a comedy about sexual relationships. The movie was made for 175,000 dollars, and made seven ... Show more...
Spike Lee was born Shelton Lee in 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from a proud and intelligent background. His father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a school teacher. His mother dubbed him Spike, due to his tough nature. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta and developed his film making skills at Clark Atlanta University. After graduating, he went to the Tisch School of Arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, The Answer (1980), a reworking of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) -- a ten-minute film. Lee went on to produce a 45-minute film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), which won a student academy award. Lee's next film, "The Messenger," in 1984, was somewhat biographical. In 1986, Spike Lee made the film, She's Gotta Have It (1986), a comedy about sexual relationships. The movie was made for 175,000 dollars, and made seven million. Since then, Lee has become a well-known, intelligent, and talented film maker. His next movie was School Daze (1988), which was set in a historically black school and focused mostly on the conflict between the school and the Fraternities, of which he was a strong critic, portraying them as materialistic, irresponsible, and uncaring. Lee went on to do his landmark film, Do the Right Thing (1989), a movie specifically about his own town in Brooklyn, New York. The movie portrayed a neighborhood on a very hot day, and the racial tensions that emerge. The movie garnered an Oscar nomination, for Danny Aiello, for supporting actor. It also sparked a debate on racial relations. Lee went on to produce the jazz biopic Mo' Better Blues (1990) which showed his talent for directing and acting, and was the first of many Spike Lee films to feature Denzel Washington. His next film, Jungle Fever (1991), was about interracial dating. Lee's handling of the subject proved yet again highly controversial. Lee's next film was the self-titled biography of Malcolm X (1992), which had Denzel Washington portraying the civil rights leader. The movie was a success, and resulted in an Oscar nomination for Washington. His next films were the comparatively light, Crooklyn (1994), and the intense crime drama, Clockers (1995). In 1996, Lee directed two movies: the badly received comedy, Girl 6 (1996), and the politically pointed, Get on the Bus (1996), about a group of men going to the Million Man March. His next film, He Got Game (1998), proved to be another excursion into the collegiate world as he shows the darker side of recruiting college athletes. The movie, in limited release, yet again featured Denzel Washington. In 2000 came Bamboozled which made a mockery out of television and the way African-Americans are perceived by white America and the way African-Americans perceive themselves. The movie, however, was a resounding critical success. Lee also has produced films like New Jersey Drive (1995), Tales from the Hood (1995), and Drop Squad (1994). He also has produced and or directed movies about Huey P. Newton, Jim Brown, and has commented in many documentaries about varied subjects. With pointed political messages, insightful, different and intelligent films, Spike Lee has become a well known political presence. He looks likely to have further success in the film business. Lee is an obsessive New York Knicks fan. He and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, have two children. Show less...
Filmography - Acting
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Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists (2018)
As: Himself
Directors Jonathan Alter, John Block and Steve McCarthy bring New York columnists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill’s courageous writing to life, celebrating the acclaimed journalists and the city they loved.
Runtime: 106 min.
Directed by: Stephen McCarthy | Jonathan Alter | John Block
Stars: Spike Lee | Pete Hamill | Gloria Steinem | Jimmy Breslin | Gay Talese
Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1 (2018)
As: Himself
Unbanned explores the dynamic life of AJ1 from its unlikely origins to its role in disrupting NBA rules, birthing sneaker culture, and influencing a social and cultural revolution. This is the story of a shoe that changed the world.
Runtime: 90 min.
Directed by: Dexton Deboree
Stars: Jason Sudeikis | Spike Lee | Michael B. Jordan | Carmelo Anthony | DJ Khaled
Birth of a Movement (2017)
As: Himself
In 1915, Boston-based African American newspaper editor and activist William M. Trotter waged a battle against D.W. Griffith’s technically groundbreaking but notoriously Ku Klux Klan-friendly The Birth of a Nation, unleashing a fight that still rages today about race relations, media representation, and the power and influence of Hollywood. Birth of a Movement, based on Dick Lehr's book The Birth ...
Runtime: 57 min.
Directed by: Bestor Cram | Susan Gray
Stars: Danny Glover | Spike Lee | Reginald Hudlin | Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
French Cinema Mon Amour (2015)
As: Self
French Cinema Mon Amour is an ensemble film in which each contributor brings their own voice, their own particular approach, their culture, and their language to produce a portrait of French cinema.
Runtime: 56 min.
Directed by: Ann-Solen Douguet | Damien Cabrespines
Stars: Ronit Elkabetz | Stephen Frears | Michael Haneke | Jean-Pierre Dardenne | Luc Dardenne
Champs (2015)
As: Himself
A documentary about the sport of boxing, as seen through the eyes of champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins.
Runtime: 85 min.
Directed by: Bert Marcus
Stars: 50 Cent | Spike Lee | Mike Tyson | Evander Holyfield | Bernard Hopkins
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee (2014)
As: Self
In this open-letter style documentary, Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis' rich lives guide their grandson on his personal quest to master lasting love, conscious art, and undying activism.
Stars: Harry Belafonte | Ruby Dee | Alan Alda | Angela Bassett | Michelle Alexander
Bad 25 (2012)
As: Self
Spike Lee pays tribute to Michael Jackson's Bad on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the epochal album, offering behind-the-scenes footage of Jackson recording the album and interviews with confidants, musicians, choreographers, and such music-world superstars as Kanye West, Sheryl Crow, Cee Lo Green and Mariah Carey.
Runtime: 131 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Michael Jackson | Spike Lee | Mariah Carey | Sheryl Crow | Cee Lo Green
A Man's Story (2012)
As: Himself
Documentary about British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.
Runtime: 98 min.
Directed by: Varon Bonicos
Stars: Michael Bay | Paul Bettany | Richard Branson | Giorgio Armani | Ozwald Boateng
Red Hook Summer (2012)
As: Mr. Mookie
When his mom deposits him at the Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn to spend the summer with the grandfather he’s never met, young Flik may as well have landed on Mars. Fresh from his cushy life in Atlanta, he’s bored and friendless, and his strict grandfather, Enoch, a firebrand preacher, is bent on getting him to accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Only Chazz, the feisty girl from church, ...
Runtime: 121 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Clarke Peters | Thomas Jefferson Byrd | Nate Parker | Toni Lysaith | Jules Brown
Brooklyn Boheme (2012)
As: Himself
Brooklyn Boheme is a love letter to a vibrant African American artistic community who resided in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill Brooklyn during the 80's and 90's that included the great Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Branford Marsalis, Rosie Perez, Saul Williams, Lorna Simpson, Talib Kweli just to name a few. Narrated and written by Fort Greene resident Nelson George, this feature length documentary celebrates ...
Runtime: 75 min.
Directed by: Diane Paragas | Nelson George
Stars: Rosie Perez | Spike Lee | Chris Rock | Branford Marsalis | Carl Rux
Guest (2011)
As: Himself
Filmmaker José Luis Guerin documents his experience during a year of traveling as a guest of film festivals to present his previous film. What emerges is a wonderfully humane and sincere portrayal of the people that he meets when he goes off the beaten track in some of the world's major cities.
Runtime: 124 min.
Directed by: José Luis Guerin
Stars: Spike Lee | Chantal Akerman | José Luis Guerin | Tanja Czichy | Charlotte Dupont
On the Shoulders of Giants (2011)
The story of the Harlem Rens: the greatest basketball team you never heard of.
Runtime: 90 min.
Directed by: Deborah Morales
Stars: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | Bob Costas | Charles Barkley | Maya Angelou | Carmelo Anthony
Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks (2010)
As: Himself
Reggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knick fans multiple times. But it was the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals that solidified Miller as Public Enemy #1 in New York City. With moments to go in Game 1, and facing a seemingly insurmountable deficit of 105-99, Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to give his Indiana Pacers an astonishing victory. This career-defining ...
Runtime: 68 min.
Directed by: Dan Klores
Stars: Spike Lee | Patrick Ewing | Reggie Miller | Cheryl Miller | Donnie Walsh
PoliWood (2009)
An in-depth look at the Democratic and Republican national conventions held during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election year.
Runtime: 90 min.
Directed by: Barry Levinson
Stars: Stephen Baldwin | Ellen Burstyn | Annette Bening | Rachael Leigh Cook | David Crosby
Kobe Doin' Work (2009)
As: himself
A documentary following Kobe Bryant during one day of the 2008 NBA playoffs.
Runtime: 84 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | Kobe Bryant | Phil Jackson | Lamar Odom | Michele Tafoya
Beyond Wiseguys: Italian Americans & the Movies (2008)
Documentary portrays the saga of how Italian Americans went from being outsiders who were stereotyped as gangsters in American movies to insiders in Hollywood who took control of their own stories. Interviews, film clips and home movies from Italian American filmmakers highlight personal experiences and comment on Hollywood's politics and cultural impact.
Directed by: Steven Fischler
Stars: Francis Capra | Chazz Palminteri | Dominic Chianese | Ben Gazzara | Paul Borghese
Lights, Action, Music (2007)
A wonderful journey through the meaning and relevance of film music composition. Featuring great, albeit brief, insights from some of the modern greats.
Stars: Spike Lee | Ang Lee | John Barry | Mira Nair | Rachel Portman
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of Malcolm X (2005)
As: Himself
A short documentary about the making of Spike Lee's biopic, 'Malcolm X'.
Runtime: 30 min.
Directed by: Gary Leva
Stars: James Earl Jones | Martin Scorsese | Spike Lee | Ossie Davis | Ernest R. Dickerson
Street Fight (2005)
As: Self
This documentary follows the 2002 mayoral campaign in Newark, New Jersey in which the Cory Booker attempted to unseat longtime mayor Sharpe James
Runtime: 83 min.
Directed by: Marshall Curry
Stars: Cornel West | Spike Lee | Al Sharpton | Cory Booker
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It) (2005)
Feature-length documentary on renegade filmmaker, novelist, musician and theater impresario, Melvin Van Peebles.
Runtime: 85 min.
Directed by: Joe Angio
Stars: Melvin Van Peebles | Spike Lee | Emanuel Azenberg | Gil Scott-Heron | Marva Allen
Through the Fire (2005)
"Through the Fire" chronicles the journey of Coney Island basketball star, Sebastian Telfair, from famed Lincoln High School straight to the NBA.
Directed by: Alistair Christopher | Jonathan Hock
Stars: Derek Jeter | Spike Lee | Jay-Z | Dwight Howard
No Fighting in the War Room Or: Dr Strangelove and the Nuclear Threat (2004)
As: Himself
A documentary exploring the historical concept of the narrative of Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb. This short documentary compares the film with the actual events concerning the Cold War and the Cuban Missle Crisis.
Runtime: 30 min.
Directed by: John Scheinfeld
Stars: Spike Lee | Roger Ebert | Bob Woodward | Robert McNamara | James B. Harris
3 A.M. (2001)
As: Filmmaker
The feature film directing debut of Spike Lee protege Lee Davis takes the viewer into the world of taxi drivers. Developed in the Sundance Laboratory, this film offers dove-tailing stories centering on the lives of individual taxi drivers as they reflect on and experience romance, politics, sociology, and spirituality.
Runtime: 92 min.
Directed by: Lee Davis
Stars: Michelle Rodriguez | Danny Glover | Sarita Choudhury | Arjun G. Awtramani | Sergej Trifunović
Farewell, Babylon! (2001)
As: self
Arrabal's sixth film based on his novel from 1969 with the same name as the movie.
Runtime: 54 min.
Directed by: Fernando Arrabal | Raphaël Frydman
Stars: Melvin Van Peebles | Spike Lee | Luis Argueta
Lisa Picard Is Famous (2000)
As: Spike Lee
A documentarian decides to follow the career of New York actress Lisa Picard, believing she is on the brink of fame. Instead, he bears witness to Lisa's continued, humorous, struggles as an actress, as well as the conflict that arises when Lisa's best friend Tate hits it big with an off-Broadway one-man show.
Runtime: 90 min.
Directed by: Griffin Dunne
Stars: Sandra Bullock | Griffin Dunne | Laura Kirk | Daniel London | Nat DeWolf
Michael Jordan to the Max (2000)
As: Himself
This documentary showcases basketball player Michael Jordan's awe-inspiring moves, providing behind-the-scenes and on-the-court action, including footage of Jordan and the Chicago Bulls going head-to-head against the Utah Jazz in the 1997 NBA Finals. Phil Jackson and Bob Costas are interviewed (among others), and the awesome soundtrack includes songs by Earth, Wind and Fire, Fatboy Slim and Freddie King.
Runtime: 46 min.
Directed by: Don Kempf | James D. Stern
Stars: Laurence Fishburne | Bill Murray | Michael Jordan | Bob Costas | Phil Jackson
Summer of Sam (1999)
As: John Jeffries
Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American South Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.
Runtime: 142 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Mira Sorvino | Adrien Brody | John Leguizamo | Michael Rispoli | Jennifer Esposito
The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money (1998)
As: Himself
An examination of the evolution of commercials as an artistic medium, featuring interviews with media luminaries who relate how the in-your-face stylistic conventions of commercials have influenced feature films and the visual arts. A documentary film talking about art and advertising divided in three parts: 1. Crossing Over - from cinema to ads from ads to cinema 2. Humour - How humour affects us in ...
Runtime: 170 min.
Directed by: Hermann Vaske
Stars: David Lynch | Spike Lee | Dennis Hopper | Ridley Scott | Alan Parker
4 Little Girls (1997)
As: Interviewer (voice) (uncredited)
On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.
Runtime: 102 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Maxine McNair | Chris McNair | Helen Pegues | Queen Nunn | Arthur Hanes Jr.
When We Were Kings (1996)
As: Himself
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, ...
Runtime: 88 min.
Directed by: Leon Gast
Stars: B.B. King | Muhammad Ali | James Brown | Don King | George Foreman
The Universal Story (1996)
As: Self (archive footage)
Richard Dreyfuss hosts a celebration of the 80 year history of Universal Studios. Founded as IMP by Carl Leammle to oppose Edison's Motion Picture Tust, it soon grew under the leadership of 21 year old production head Irving Thalberg with classic silents from artists like John Ford, Erich Von Stroheim, and Lon Chaney and prospered further in the Sound Era under the leadership of Carl Leammle Jr. with ...
Runtime: 120 min.
Directed by: David Heeley
Stars: Tom Hanks | Richard Dreyfuss | Michael J. Fox | Kirk Douglas | Alfred Hitchcock
Girl 6 (1996)
As: Jimmy
Girl 6 is a 1996 American film by director Spike Lee about a phone sex operator. Theresa Randle played the title character, and playwright Suzan-Lori Parks wrote the screenplay. The soundtrack is composed entirely of songs written by Prince. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. Directors Quentin Tarantino and Ron Silver make cameo appearances as ...
Runtime: 108 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Theresa Randle | Spike Lee | Jenifer Lewis | Isaiah Washington | Debi Mazar
Clockers (1995)
As: Chucky
Strike is a young city drug pusher under the tutelage of drug lord Rodney Little. When a night manager at a fast-food restaurant is found with four bullets in his body, Strike's older brother turns himself in as the killer. Det. Rocco Klein doesn't buy the story, however, setting out to find the truth, and it seems that all the fingers point toward Strike & Rodney.
Runtime: 128 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: John Turturro | Harvey Keitel | Mekhi Phifer | Delroy Lindo | Isaiah Washington
Hoop Dreams (1994)
As: Himself
This documentary follows two inner-city Chicago residents, Arthur Agee and William Gates, as they follow their dreams of becoming basketball superstars. Beginning at the start of their high school years, and ending almost 5 years later, as they start college, we watch the boys mature into men, still retaining their "Hoop Dreams".
Runtime: 170 min.
Directed by: Steve James
Stars: Steve James | William Gates | Arthur Agee | Dick Vitale | Bobby Knight
Crooklyn (1994)
As: Snuffy
From Spike Lee comes this vibrant semi-autobiographical portrait of a school-teacher, her stubborn jazz-musician husband and their five kids living in '70s Brooklyn.
Runtime: 115 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Alfre Woodard | Delroy Lindo | David Patrick Kelly | Zelda Harris | Carlton Williams
A Century of Cinema (1994)
A look back at the first 100 years of the movies.
Runtime: 72 min.
Directed by: Caroline Thomas
Stars: Dan Aykroyd | Richard Attenborough | Kim Basinger | George Burns | Milton Berle
Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993)
The Black Audio Film Collective’s seventh film envisioned the death and life of the African American revolutionary as a seven part study in iconography as narrated by novelist Toni Cade Bambara and actor Giancarlo Espesito. The stylized tableaux vivants that memorialise Malcolm’s life referenced the early 20th century funeral photography of James Van der Zee’s The Harlem Book of the ...
Runtime: 52 min.
Directed by: John Akomfrah
Stars: Darrick Harris | Edward George | Danny Carter | Martin Boothe | Byron O. Hurlock
The Last Party (1993)
As: Himself
A youthful perspective on the 1992 presidential campaign with a witty, cautionary message to young Americans to start participating in democracy or get the kind of government they deserve.
Runtime: 96 min.
Directed by: Marc Levin | Mark Benjamin
Stars: Spike Lee | Robert Downey Jr. | Sean Penn | Bill Clinton | Oliver North
Malcolm X (1992)
As: Shorty
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
Runtime: 202 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Denzel Washington | Delroy Lindo | Albert Hall | Angela Bassett | Al Freeman, Jr.
Our Hollywood Education (1992)
In this documentary, a variety of directors and actors, many of them well known, give answers to questions the viewer never hears -- answers which, on the face of it, call into question the validity of the whole filmmaking enterprise and the culture which spawned it. The narration asserts that the theme is "art versus enterprise," but critics objected that the film is not sufficiently focused to back ...
Directed by: Michael Beltrami
Stars: Oliver Stone | Spike Lee
Jungle Fever (1991)
As: Cyrus
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
Runtime: 132 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Wesley Snipes | Spike Lee | Ossie Davis | Ruby Dee | Annabella Sciorra
Lonely in America (1990)
As: Himself
An East Indian native immigrates to New York City and stumbles his way onto the corporate fast-track.
Runtime: 96 min.
Directed by: Barry Alexander Brown
Stars: Ranjit Chowdhry | Adelaide Miller | Tirlok Malik | Robert Kessler | David Toney
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
As: Giant
Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of Bleek's and Shadow's friendly rivalry on stage which spills into their professional relationship and threatens to tear apart the quartet.
Runtime: 129 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: John Turturro | Giancarlo Esposito | Denzel Washington | Wesley Snipes | Spike Lee
Decade (1989)
As: Himself
Interviews with personalities including John Mellencamp, Spike Lee, Lou Reed, Roseanne Barr, David Byrne, George Michael and more, as they reflect on the 1980s.
Runtime: 96 min.
Directed by: Ted Haimes | Martha Spanninger
Stars: Spike Lee | Eric Bogosian | David Byrne | John Mellencamp | Linda Ellerbee
Making 'Do the Right Thing' (1989)
As: Himself
The Behind-the-Scenes documentary of the dramatic comedy Do the Right Thing.
Runtime: 60 min.
Directed by: St. Clair Bourne
Stars: Danny Aiello | Richard Edson | Ossie Davis | Ruby Dee | Nandi Bowe
First Works (1989)
It's a mixed bag in the age of illuminating DVD supplements, but First Works effectively demonstrates the early promise of 13 successful filmmakers. Culled from programs originally broadcast on Showtime in 1990, this crude compilation combines student films, early professional work, and interviews with now-famous directors at various stages of commercial and artistic achievement.
Runtime: 260 min.
Stars: Taylor Hackford | Oliver Stone | Spike Lee | Paul Mazursky | Robert Zemeckis
Do the Right Thing (1989)
As: Mookie
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
Runtime: 120 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Danny Aiello | Giancarlo Esposito | Richard Edson | Ossie Davis | Ruby Dee
School Daze (1988)
As: Darrell 'Half-Pint' Dunlap
In the South of the United States are taking place confrontations between two groups of students who have different ideas and are not able to accept the one of the opponent.
Runtime: 121 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Laurence Fishburne | Giancarlo Esposito | Tisha Campbell-Martin | Ossie Davis | Joe Seneca
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
As: Mars Blackmon
The story of Nola Darling's simultaneous sexual relationships with three different men is told by her and by her partners and other friends. All three men wanted her to commit solely to them; Nola resists being "owned" by a single partner.
Runtime: 84 min.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Stars: Spike Lee | Tommy Redmond Hicks | Raye Dowell | Tracy Camilla Johns | John Canada Terrell