What Was Behind Samuel L. Jackson’s Yell At the Oscars?

If you haven’t yet, take a second and watch the first thirty seconds of this video.

In one of the most recently controversial Black History Months to date, Samuel L. Jackson’s exclamation holds even more weight. The Washington Post called BHM2019 the Month of the Apology: lawmakers called Maryland’s Prince George’s Country “nigger country” and governors of Virginia moonwalked at his apology briefing for wearing blackface, it’s clear Spike Lee — and the rest of us — craved a late-stage win this month.

However, the yell is more than just a relic of the Black Experience. Many people know both Jackson and Lee went to Morehouse College, but what does that really mean? What could cause two grown men, decades past their own collegial experiences, to call-and-respond with such vigor and certitude?

Oration is in the blood of Morehouse College. One event that cements this pedigree, more than any other, is the campus’s Crown Forum. Every week, all of Morehouse’s students pile into the historic Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel early in the morning to listen to speeches from esteemed, boisterous gentlemen with various connections to the campus. Guests speak on various topics concerning black men in our society…