Spike Lee comes to University of Texas-

Filmmaker Spike Lee conducts a roundtable discussion and screens portions of his new documentary film, " If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise ," on Sunday, Nov. 14 at the University of Texas.

The intent of the documentary was to focus on the recovery of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the city in 2005. He filmed the story this past year and the documentary instead turned into a chronicle of the devastation of the Gulf Oil Spill. Lee examines what he sees as a racial divide in the United States.

"W.E.B. Dubois spoke of the '20th century's problem of the color line.' It's the 21st century now and we have the same problem," says Daina Ramey Berry, an associate professor of history and African and African Diaspora studies who invited Lee to campus. "Hurricane Katrina brings this to light and Spike Lee captures it in his films about New Orleans. This screening and discussion will explore that."

The roundtable discussion will also include:

* Tiffany Gill, associate professor of history (moderator)
* Leonard Moore, associate vice president for diversity and community engagement, professor of history
* Shirley Thompson, associate professor of American studies and African and African Diaspora studies
* Paul Stekler, chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film
* Douglas Brinkley, professor of history, Rice University
* Camille Pluck, University of Texas at Austin student
* Zachery Haller, Huston-Tillotston University student

"One cannot study Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath and ignore the issues of race, class and power," said Edmund T. Gordon, chair of the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies. "With African and African Diaspora Studies co-sponsoring this roundtable, we hope to generate an open conversation about the role of these salient factors in reshaping New Orleans, the Gulf Coast and America writ large."

The event begins at 2 p.m., with film excerpts set for 2:30 p.m. and roundtable to start at 3:45 p.m. in the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium, LBJ Library and Museum on the UT campus.

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