Director Shaka King’s cinematic masterpiece Judas and The Black Messiah (2021), which is set to be released in HBOMax and cinema on Feb. 12, is a biographical historical-drama piece following the revolutionary Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya, the chairman of the Black Panther Illinois chapter, and William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), a petty criminal who gets looped by the FBI to spy on Hampton. Unlike other historical-drama pieces set placed during the Civil Rights Movement, Dir. King doesn’t stray away from his intentional plot, which is something rather tasteful to see. Most movies set during the Civil Rights Movement try too hard to humanize the plot of the movie by embedding something KKK related, Dir. King alludes to such actions briefly but doesn’t focus on or highlight the racist group. Instead, he makes sure to show how well Fred Hampton could defuse a high rising tension and focus on the betrayal of one of the few closest people he had in his Black Panther chapter, O’neal… Hence the movie title Judas (O’Neal) and The Black Messiah (Fred Hampton).
While Dir. Kings movie is something worth re-watching over and over again not only because of the plot, but because everything from the shots, mise-en-scene, film directions, and performances were impeccable. (This film is sure to be nominated for various awards)
I noticed that when it comes to black American history, most teachers fluff the information by time jumping from life before 1861, the Civil War, to the 1960s Civil Rights movement, and then they proceed to the next chapter of “great,” and “equal” America.
Here in the U.S., American history is typically taught to us in the upper-level classes somewhere between 7th to 8th grade, which is okay, but most teachers fail to talk about the most pivotal, and essential stories. The Black side of America.
The key points during the brief lessons we( or from what I remember) receive in school are the following.
1. Yes some states favored segregation and believed whites were superior, which led those racist people (because that’s what they are) to fight for their rights to own black people and use them in whichever way they wanted.
2. No not every American was like that, which is why the 1861 Civil War broke out.
3. It’s okay the North won and the South had to free their captive slaves (except some didn’t).
~Time Jump~
4. The 1960s was the era of the new wave for change specifically to the Black communities. Many social groups arose from the Civil Rights Movement.
5. Rosa Park was a pivotal ark to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s movement.
6. Finally Blacks in America were treated as equal after Dr.King’s ” I have a dream” speech. (Total lie)
Perhaps, my predominantly medium to upper-class white schools simply didn’t have the time to discuss all the reality that happened between those missing years. Maybe like most schools, the funding had to be cut back which resulted in the history teacher(s) to fast pace their teachings. Who knows. It’s a mystery.
What I do know is that if a 2-hour long movie can teach and inform people then something must be wrong in the education system.
As I watched Dir. King’s cinematic masterpiece Judas and The Black Messiah (2021), I reflected on how much of Black American history is overlooked. At the end of the movie, I found myself wanting to learn more about the plot of the movie and more in general about other Black Panther branches and their impacts. I yearned to know more about what I had just watched and was never taught in school about.
I know who the Black Panther Party was and what they tried advocating about, but what I didn’t know was the impact their advocacy left on American society. For example, while the Black Panther Party was known to be founded by two black Oakland college students, Bobby Seale and Huey P, one of the main impacts they left while focusing on doing community outreach was providing free HOT breakfast to students. They also opened free medical clinics and ambulance services( at no cost to the person) after the ill fate of a North Carolina black teenager who was left neglected by the actual regional ambulance and most importantly, the BPP was in support of all oppressed groups, which is something not many movie focus on but Dir. King did.
A movie like Judas and The Black Messiah deserves all the nominations and recognition in the world for giving an in-depth look at what the BPP movement was about. The film shows just of an auteur King is and just how talented and amazing he is to take various factual pieces of history and embedded them into a 2-hour long movie. It’s sad to say I learned much more about a pivotal Black history through a movie rather than being taught in class, but that just shows the rigid system the U.S has when it comes to teaching something other than glorifying America as a perfect, ideological United Nations.
I urge everyone to watch the movie as soon as it comes out and let the performances of these actors unravel before you as they not only entertain you but teach you something. Watch it the first time as a viewer, then watch it again as a spectator and see the small details Dir. King embedded into the film.