Spike Lee asked perhaps the biggest question of the day following the botched premier of Russell Simmons’ All Def Digital web series ‘Harriet Tubman’s Sex Diaries.’
Spike Lee posed his question through Twitter, writing, “Just Saw Russell Simmons Produced Skit ‘“HARRIET TUBMAN SEXTAPE.I ASK Why Do We Desecrate Our ancestors?Why Do We Hate Ourselves?QUESTION???
Lee went on to define desecration as “The Act Of Depriving something Of It’s Sacred Character,Which Is Held to Be Sacred Or Holy By A Group Or Individual.”
This isn’t the first time Lee has been critical of productions that downplayed the importance of African American history, once attacking Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained.”
Lee told Vibe Magazine the film is “disrespectful” to his ancestors.
Lee again criticized the film via his Twitter account.
“American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western.It Was A Holocaust.My Ancestors Are Slaves.Stolen From Africa.I Will Honor Them,” he wrote.
Simmons’ sextape parody portrays Harriet Tubman and a fellow slave concocting a plan to film the Civil Rights heroine bedding her “massa,” while capturing it on film.
The three-minute sketch included everything from the actors singing Negro spirituals to speaking their best form of broken English, not to mention the infamous sex scene.
Simmons cited the sketch as the “funniest thing” he has ever seen before deleting the tweet.
Daryl Johnson, creator of the web series, retweeted Simmons’ compliment with a statement, writing, “look at that y’all. #blessed #hardwork.”
Johnson predicted the sketch’s imminent controversy, writing, “Black people @CheetoSantino are gonna hate me now. Check out my latest contribution to your shame.”
The Def Jam Records founder issued an apology via his Global Grind website with a title, reading, “I Get It And I Respect It…The Harriet Tubman Video Has Been Removed.”
Simmons revealed associates at the NAACP requested he removed the video and apologize to which he agreed.
“I’m a very liberal person with thick skin and it’s hard to offend me,” he said. “My first impression of the Harriet Tubman piece was that it was about what one of actors said in the video, that 162 years later, there’s still tremendous injustice. And Harriet Tubman outwitting the slave master, I thought it was politically correct.
“…I guess I’m older now and instead of fighting for one piece of content, I can understand why so many people are upset… I am sincerely sorry,” he added.
Harriet Tubman is regarded as one of our nation’s most well renowned heroines after being an instrumental figure in the Underground Railroad, a well-planned route that guided enslaved Africans to freedom in northern states and Canada.
Check out “Harriet Tubman Sex Diaries” below
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