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Rating: 4.75 out of 5
Recently, I sat in a course that subject was Critical Race Theory. I honestly thought it was one of the BEST classes on campus where I worked. I learned a lot from sitting in the class and hearing the opinions of others. People would tell you that I was more into this class than the actual class I was taking. Every other week, we would watch a movie in the class. One week we got to watch Judas and the Black Messiah. You have no idea how much I was looking forward to watching this film because, for one, it won an Academy Award for a black person, and two, whenever I saw the trailer, it just made me want to watch it.
Let’s give a little background information on Fred Hampton. He died at the age of 21 years old, but during his lifetime, he was influential. As an activist, he came to prominence in Chicago as chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and deputy chairman of the national BPP. During his life, he founded the antiracist, anti-class Rainbow Coalition, a multicultural political organization that included the Black Panthers, the Young Patriots that was primarily poor whites, and the Young Lords that was Hispanics. The man did powerful work in a short time.
Directed and produced by Shaka King, who wrote the screenplay with Will Berson. Judas and the Black Messiah is a film about the betrayal of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in late-1960s Chicago, by William O’Neal. After being caught trying to steal a car and impersonating a police officer, William O’Neal (Stanfield) becomes an FBI informant with the mission to infiltrate the Illinois Black Panther Party and is tasked with keeping tabs on their charismatic leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Kaluuya). O’Neal reports directly to his handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Plemons). As O’Neal watches from the background and keeps tabs on the leader, Hampton’s political talents grow more and more. He falls in love with fellow Black Panther Sista Deborah Johnson (Fishback). Soon, O’Neal is at a crossroads with his conscience on whether he is doing good or bad. The question comes will he side with the Panthers or do the job that the FBI and their director, J. Edgar Hoover (Sheen) ordered?
Okay, now the movie was okay. It was more about the performances that propelled this film. Let’s go into the story. I was looking forward to learning more about Fred Hampton and how he evolved the Black Panther Party before dying at the age of 21. Yet, he seemed to be almost a side character in this film. Yes, he is the focal point, but the whole movie revolved around Bill O’Neal and him being an FBI informant and his ultimate betrayal of Fred Hampton. I want to say that Bill O’Neal is a snake and a piece of shit. There is a special place in hell for him right next to Judas. When Dante walks by, you can wave at him.
Like I said, the story is more about Bill O’Neal’s infiltration and how he single-handedly took down the Black Panther Party in Chicago leadership and group. Yet, some of the things he said along the way were powerful because they are true today. When he tries to steal a car while posing as a federal officer and is apprehended, he is approached by FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell. Mitchell offers to have O’Neal’s charges dropped if he works undercover for the bureau. Mitchell asks him why a badge and not a gun. O’Neal’s response is that any black person can get a gun, but with a badge, you have an army behind you. The film shows O’Neal eating well with the FBI as he gives them information. What I think was lost was that it showed O’Neal really on edge because when the group was looking for the leak, he wanted to quit. After the shoot-out, I would’ve been gone, but he kept it up to betray the group. In the end, the film showed his perspective as he stated that he was helping the cause and didn’t believe he did anything wrong. He was the biggest hypocrite of them all.
Another side that was shown is how the FBI operated. I want you to look up something when you have the chance because I learned it in class. Look up COINTELPRO when you have a chance. This was a project aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic American political organizations. Some of the most prominent black leaders fell to this program. The movie shows that the FBI was very against black power and movement and saw it as a major threat to the United States. In this film, J. Edgar Hoover is also a piece of shit and gave the order to take out Hampton and put down his voice. What I really didn’t like was when Mitchell was talking to O’Neal at his house. Mitchell claimed that the Black Panther Party and the KKK were exactly alike in how they do stuff. That couldn’t be further from the truth, but just that thinking was harmful.
Finally, we have Fred Hampton. The one that was targeted. The movie portrayed him as a man with such charisma, passion, and leadership. I wanted to see more about his mission and how he went about trying to make the country a better place. He implemented breakfast for the kids, went to different races, and brought them in the fold because everyone had a voice. I wanted to see more of his lessons and teaching because it was like he spoke for a while and then was sent to prison. We do see what happened in prison as it looked like they tried to break him along with burning down the organization’s headquarters. Once he got out, the order was sent out to kill him. His speech, “I Am A Revolutionary,” is powerful. You can see the passion in his voice because he is all about the people.
I want to say that Daniel Kaluuya gave an electrifying, spectacular, and fantastic portrayal of Fred Hampton. When watching Kaluuya work, you just felt like he embodied Hampton to the fullest and let his pride and emotion out on the screen. It was straight-up powerful, and I enjoyed watching every second of it because it was that good.
Lakeith Stanfield as was equally as good as Bill O’Neal. Stanfield has really come on the scene with his performances lately, and I really enjoy watching him act. In this role, he really made you feel like he was in danger and that the weight of what he was doing was having a negative effect on him where he wouldn’t survive. Great acting on Lakeith’s part.
I love this film. It makes you want to dig deeper into what the Black Panther Party was all about and how Fred Hampton tried to change the thoughts and minds of the people. Even though he died at the young age of 21, his words still live on today. Kaluuya is marvelous in his portrayal of Hampton, and Stanfield is just as good as the snake, O’Neal. Watch this movie during Black History month and become a revolutionary.
