Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee is so small I didn’t even
see him at first, surrounded
by Black Expo goers like a gumdrop
in a fist. When I asked him to sign
my “Free South Africa” t-shirt,
he said, You didn’t buy that at this
booth. Fresh off seeing Do the Right
Thing, I crowed: “What’s that got
to do with your movies?” His fans
laughed, so he edited me like my name
was Pino: Why you care? You
ain’t even black. Someone behind
me said, Damn, Spike. That ain’t
right. But Spike’s shamed scribble
on my t-shirt didn’t change the missed
free throw feeling in my chest.
Adrian Matejka, "Do the Right Thing" from Mixology. Copyright © 2009 by Adrian Matejka. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Random House LLC.
