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I admire so many directors, but I have to say that Spike Lee stands out for me. While I was already preparing to attend a historically black university, it was School Daze that sealed the deal. I was raised in Los Angeles and later attended school and ultimately graduated in Portland Or. I didn't see a lot of the southern camaraderie that had to present to survive racism in America. Instead, I was exposed to lots and lots of violence. I wanted, I needed to understand the relationship that existed between like mind African Americans. I saw both the togetherness and separation in School Daze, I couldn't wait to experience that in my life. The list of important films for me goes on. Do the Right Thing came at a particularly tense time in LA.  That movie touched on exactly what was happening in LA. African Americans believed and used stereotypes to distance themselves from the Latina community and visa versa. I appreciated his willingness to address racism. He also addressed woman's sexuality in She's Gotta Have it. Not many men could handle the task. He did an awesome job of not making the character over sexual or promiscuous, although some might argue otherwise. Some of his other work includes Jungle Fever, Chi-Raq, Malcolm X, and Bamboozled.