The True Story Behind “Judas and the Black Messiah”

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, Fred Hampton was the chairman, I think, of the Illinois chapter or the Chicago chapter of the Black Panthers. Is that correct? How big a figure was he?

SHAKA KING, DIRECTOR: Yes, the Illinois chapter. He was not only — and, mind you, he was only the chairman for one year. And in that time, not only did he become a major figure in Chicago politics, but he was being primed essentially to run the party on a national level. And I think that was a big part of the reason why he was assassinated.

AMANPOUR: I want to play this clip. It’s when Fred Hampton is in the hall talking to his people. And he’s talking about, you can attack a person, but not the ideology. Let’s just listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL KALUUYA, ACTOR: You can murder a liberator, but you can’t murder liberation. You can murder a revolutionary, but you can’t murder revolution. You can murder a freedom fighter, but you can’t murder freedom!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Dominique Fishback, that’s you there playing Deborah Johnson. And you’re emotional. You’re wiping tears away. What was it like for you to play that role? And how much of the story did you know before — you know, before you were cast?

DOMINIQUE FISHBACK, ACTRESS: Yes. Unfortunately, growing up in Brooklyn, in East New York, we didn’t really learn about the Black Panther Party. It wasn’t until I got to college, and I was in the black student union did I first hear Chairman Fred’s name. So, when I got the e-mail that Shaka wanted me to play Deborah Johnson, I knew that Chairman Fred was assassinated at 21 years old. I knew that his pregnant fiancee was in the bed with him and the she shielded his body, and I knew that he was betrayed by an FBI informant that pretended to be a Panther. But I didn’t know about the Rainbow Coalition and all of the things that he did for Chicago. So that’s kind of how I initially started. I was reading a book called “A Taste of Power” by Elaine Brown, who was a Panther in the Oakland chapter. And how I got into the character, just journaling, listening to Mama Akua, formerly known as Deborah Johnson, her insight, and Chairman Fred Jr.’s insight.