*During a conversation with Page Six, Spike Lee recalled the tough love his mother served up in his youth and the hard work ethic she instilled in him which he has passed on to his kids.
Spike: “My early days were tough. I’m from a long line of educators. Mid-’70s my mother taught in Brooklyn schools. I’d ask, ‘Why you so tough on me?’ Mom was always on my black ass, kindergarten through high school. If I got an A or a B, why not an A-plus.
“I’d say, ‘Not fair.’ She had a mouth. She’d say, ‘F – – k fair.’ Black moms worked to develop their kids then. They instilled success in our generation. After class, I had to do gym, learn an instrument. I played violin. She told me, ‘You don’t do good, I’ll bust your ass.’
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“My kids have private school. I didn’t go to private school. But she helped my whole career. I’d say I only want to learn film at NYU. My mother loved movies. But it was back in elementary school she taught me how to be successful. And I try doing the same with my kids.
“I loved my mother. Though she’s gone, we still have conversations. My mother’s visited me from her grave.”
Lee’s most recent release was “BlacKkKlansman,” and he’s got a variety of projects in development, including a drama about the self-liberated slave Frederick Douglass.
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