Award-winning movie director and producer Spike Lee spoke against black stereotypes at the eighth annual MLK Unity Celebration at Baton Rouge Community College on Tuesday night.The celebration, inspired by MLK’s activism, emphasized unity between LSU, BRCC, Southern and the local community.    The theme of the Ceremony was “Times are changing. Be part of Dr. King’s Legacy.”Mhykeisha Evans, Miss Southern University 2008-09, welcomed attendees with praise for King, calling him a “a legend, a dreamer, a visionary.”The chancellors from BRCC and Southern, Myrtle Dorsey and Kofi Lomotey, respectively, and the vice-chancellor and provost of LSU, Astrid Merget, spoke about each university’s efforts toward unity.Merget called it “the shift from the ‘I’ to the ‘we’.”The event should inspire people to invest in their community and celebrate an equal partnership, said Chaunda Allen, LSU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs director..Lee, the guest speaker, began his speech with references to his family’s affiliation with King.He later spoke about more controversial issues concerning black men.”More black men are incarcerated in prison then enrolled in college,” Lee said.He said certain mindsets, such as a black man that speaks well is “acting white,” need to be discarded.People “equate intelligence with being white, which means they equate ignorance with being black,” Lee said.After his speech, Lee opened the floor to questions from the audience.The audience’s questions ranged from tips on success in the film industry to tracing Lee’s ancestry back to times of slavery.In an expression of unity, talent from all three colleges collaborated to perform Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise”.LSU students played instruments, Southern University students danced and a BRCC student read the poem.”It’s a great event to bring all three colleges together,” said Toni Manogin, BRCC’s Dean of Allied Health.”When everyone’s looking forward to change, it’s a good reminder to how we got to this point.”Cerise Edmonds, coordinator of LSU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, said ethnicity should not affect unity.Other attendees were more interested in Lee.Rikki Longanecker, BRCC entertainment technologies junior, said she attended the event because she wanted “to gain some knowledge and perspective from Spike Lee and learn something from his success.”Phillip Wallace, Southern University political science junior and student government vice president, was curious to see what Lee would have to say about the economy.Lee said he hoped President Obama would improve the present economic circumstances.Though most attendees did not see a lack of unity between the colleges and community, Wallace said the colleges could take more collaborative efforts to improve the city.Wallace said improvements include lobbying Gov. Bobby Jindal about budget cuts, campus crime and economic development.Edmonds said the colleges should hold similar functions more frequently.LSU will host the event next year. This year, BRCC covered the cost of the event, which was open to the community.    ——Contact Victoria Yu at [email protected]