Many are called but only a few are chosen to join this illustrious brotherhood. As the only all-male HBCU in the nation, Morehouse College is the home of some of the most influential and prominent men in the world. Here is a list of men who have the honor of being “A man of Morehouse.”

Spike Lee

Spike Lee is one of the most influential filmmakers of our time. His directing style and ability to merge hip-hop culture with telling the Black experience from an authentic perspective is what puts him in a league all on his own. Lee’s journey at Morehouse began in 1975.

During his time there we wrote for the school’s newspaper, The Maroon Tiger. It was during his time at Morehouse that Lee found his love for movies and got involved in politics.

The Atlanta native didn’t always have aspirations of working in film, he once had dreams of being a professional baseball player. Lee credits his grandmother with putting him through both undergraduate and graduate school. She lived four blocks from Morehouse and would prepare meals for Lee and his friend. It was at Morehouse where Lee met late actor Bill Nunn who went on to star in several of Lee’s films.

Lee graduated from Morehouse in 1979, he returned home to New York to attend film school at NYU. During his third year of film school, Lee wrote and produced a film called Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads as a part of his graduate thesis.

This film earned Lee a Student Academy Award in 1983. Lee’s first major success as a filmmaker was his film She’s Gotta Have It, a film about a sexually liberated Black woman living in New York.

Lee’s films are known for addressing difficult issues within the Black community. His film School Daze addressed the issue of colorism as well as the apartheid of South Africa that took place during the 1900’s.

In the film Do the Right Thing, Lee touched on the topic of racism and police brutality and told it from the Black perspective based on his upbringing and the social climate at the time.

Lee has won many awards for his contributions to the film industry. His film BlacKkKlansman, which stars fellow Morehouse alum John David Washington, earned him a Cannes Film Festival award, a British Academy Award, and his first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Brooklyn Museum currently has an exhibit in honor of Lee titled, “Spike Lee: Creative Source.”

Raphael Warnock

Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock is the current United States Senator representing the state of Georgia. Warnock who wanted to follow in the footsteps of fellow Morehouse alum Martin Luther King Jr. graduated cum laude from the university in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Before attending Morehouse, he was a part of the Upward Bound program, which allowed him to take college courses early through Savannah State University. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity, Master of Philosophy, and Doctor of Philosophy from Union Theological Seminary, a school affiliated with Columbia University.

For his theological career, Warnock has been the pastor at several churches church church in the United States. In 2005, Warnock became the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, the former congregation of Martin Luther King Jr.

Since its founding he is the fifth and youngest person to serve as senior pastor. He has remained the senior pastor while serving in the Senate. In 2013, delivered the benediction at the second inauguration of former President Barack Obama.

In 2020, Warnock ran in the special election for the United States Senate seat held by Kelly Loeffler. Spelman alum and Georgia House of Representative, Stacy Abrams encouraged him to run and coordinated his support from other Democratic leadership. Warnock beat Loeffler with 51.04% of the vote.

This was a historic win for Warnock as he became the first African American to represent Georgia in the Senate, the first Black Democratic U.S. Senator elected in the South, and the first Black Democrat elected by the Senate by a former state of the Confederacy.

]In 2021, Warnock announced that we run for election to a full term in 2022. Warnock defeated Herschel Walker in a runoff election in December of 2022. He became the first Georgia Democrat to win reelection to the Senate since 1990.

PJ Morton

Paul Morton Jr. better known by his stage name PJ Morton is a musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Morton was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana to gospel singer Bishop Paul S. Morton and Dr. Debra Brown Morton.

He graduated from Morehouse in 2003 with a degree in marketing. In 2010, Morton became a part-time member of the group Maroon 5 after his friend and musical director for the group asked him to audition.

Morton became an official member in 2012 replacing the group’s former keyboardist Jesse Carmichael. Morton has been performing with the group since then and has contributed both vocal and keyboard parts on the group’s fourth studio album Overexposed as well as others after.

Morton signed to Young Money Entertainment in 2011, under the label he released two bodies of work an EP titled Following My First Mind and an album titled New Orleans. The album’s lead single Only One which features legendary recording artist Stevie Wonder earned Morton a nomination for Best R&B Song at the Grammy Awards in 2014.

Morton returned to his hometown of New Orleans to open his record label, Morton Records in 2016. That same year he began working on his Gumbo which he released the following year. Although Gumbo didn’t enter the US Billboard 200 chart, the album did earn him two Grammy nominations at the 2018 Grammy Awards.

Morton has written and produced for numerous artists including India. Arie, LL Cool J, Jagged Edge, and Monica. Morton was recently featured on the debut album of Portuguese singer Barbara Bandeira. He also wrote a song for the Disney theme park attraction Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, inspired by the film The Princess and the Frog.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr is easily one of the most if not the most notable alum of Morehouse. As a pioneer of the civil rights movement, King has inspired generations to stand against injustice.

When King was a junior in high Morehouse began accepting students who passed the entrance exam. Following in his father and grandfather's footsteps, King enrolled in Morehouse at the age of 15. The summer before his senior year he decided to enter the ministry.

King graduated from Morehouse with a sociology degree in 1948 at the age of 19. In 1951, he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. from Boston University in 1955. Before completing his Ph.D., he became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

King’s status as a prominent figure in the civil rights movement began in 1955 with the Montgomery bus boycott. The boycott lasted 385 and started the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. One of King’s most impactful civil rights demonstrations was the March on Washington in 1963.

More than 200,000 people gathered on the National Mall to protest racial injustice and show support for pending civil rights legislation. This is where King gave his famous “I Have a Dream “speech. This speech aided in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After the March on Washington, King led several other civil rights movement demonstrations including the march on Selma.

Martin Luther King Jr fought for civil rights until his assassination in 1968. King was killed by James Earl Ray on April 4th in Nashville, Tennessee. His death sparked riots across dozens of cities in the US. Years after his death the teachings and methods of King live on as we as a society continue to fight against injustice.

David John Washington

Men many in the world of acting only dream of being compared to the legendary Denzel Washington. For Morehouse alum and actor David John Washington that is something he has experienced his whole life as he is the son of the iconic actor.

Washington graduated from Morehouse in 2006. While attending he played football for the university. His senior year he led the conference in rushing with 1,198 yards. He holds the university’s single-game (242 yards) and career rushing records (3,699).

In 2006, Washington signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent. He also played in NFL Europe for the Rhein Fire during the 2007 offseason. Washington was drafted by the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League in 2009 and played with them until 2012.

In 2015, he joined the cast of the HBO hit series Ballers as Ricky Jarrett. He remained on the show until it ended in 2019. Washington’s most notable role is his role as Ron Stallworth in the Spike Lee film BlacKkKlansman, based on a true story.

His performance earned him both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Washington has starred in several other films including, Monsters and Men, Monster, Tenet, and Malcolm and Marie alongside Zendaya.