The character of Smiley in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) walks around the neighborhood, having issues with speech and trying to sell pictures of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

The character of Smiley in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) walks around the neighborhood, having issues with speech and trying to sell pictures of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.  What does Smiley represent to Spike Lee in the film?  Dr. King and Malcolm X were considered to be great orators and leaders of the African-American community in the 1960s. With both leaders being deceased for over twenty years by the time the film was made, why does Spike have an almost mute character carry their spirit with him throughout the film