Judas and the Black Messiah

Summary 

“Judas and the Black Messiah” is a film that was released in 2021 about how the FBI used a black young man called William O’Neal to penetrate the Black Panther Party in Chicago and get information that they used to get warrants and plan for the leader’s death. In the film, O’Neal is arrested for attempted theft and given a deal by an FBI agent called Special Agent Roy Mitchell. The special agent makes a deal with O’Neal, requiring him to collect information from the BPP. The young man enters the BPP and becomes close with the Chicago chapter’s Chairman, Fred Hampton. Even though the young man becomes conflicted and tries to leave, the FBI blackmails him to remain because of the fear of the BPP knowing and retaliating (King). Ultimately, the FBI gets enough information to arrest and jail the leader. However, the FBI does not want to imprison him. Instead they plan his death and gift the O’Neal a petrol station. However, he is unable to live with his actions and kills himself.

The Theories and Concept Applications 

The theory shows how Henry David Thoreau’s ideas on Civil Disobedience apply to real-world political situations. According to the theorist, governments cause more harm than good. For instance, rather than protect everyone’s rights, governments are used to subdue groups and propagate unfairness like it happened during the US slavery. According to the author, the government enable corruption, and not even democracy can cure the problem (Thoreau, 2023). the theorist also argued that the laws do not make people just. Laws may also be used to cause unfairness if they are followed. Therefore, people are obligated to act rightly when they can rather than wait for the laws or governments to save them.

The theory applies to the film because the story is about how the FBI manipulated a young man called William O’Neal through its agent, Roy Martin Mitchell, to inform on the then Black Panther Party (BPP) leader in Chicago. The story aligns with the theory by Thoreau because it shows how the government and its actors can use the law to commit corruption and cause injustice and how a person can transcend the desire for wealth and other selfish interests and fight for justice. For instance, unlike O’Neal, Hampton effused to give in to money and other temptations like running away at the last time and choosing to remain and donate the money to an important course. However, the FBI used its authority to ensure that Hampton died before he was imprisoned.

Gandhi’s concept of satyagraha also applies in the film. The idea means to use peaceful methods like compassion and patience to pursue the truth. The Indian philosophy insisted that violence was not the best answer when treated unfairly. Rather, people should focus on showing mercy and wait. Compassion includes actions like helping the needy and talking against the violence involved (Rai and Rityusha 122). In the movie, the main character, Hampton, is a very charismatic leader. The leader of the Chicago chapter of the BPP plans to unit the various groups that did not agree at the time but pushed for social justice. As the movie starts and FBI agents are listening to a speaker, the speaker says that the BPP was very dangerous at the time because the leader was working on unifying all the groups that the government thought were dangerous to the US culture at the time. Hampton preaches unity and encourages social engagement with the various affected groups rather than armed conflict. The party organized aims like feeding and treatment for black people who mostly struggled to access quality food, education and treatment. However, the government feared he would unite people against the ruling class. FBI’s plan to third the BPP and the killing of the leader show that the government feared a united opposition would win. Hence, they had to kill him and return the country to violence among the groups.

James M. Lawson proposed revolutionary nonviolence. According to the theory, nonviolence is an efficient power tool that can be used to fight injustice (Slate 1134). The power of nonviolence is apparent in how the FBI was scared that Hampton would become more powerful and beat the government. Hampton chose to help the weak and preach against violence rather than fight to harm the oppressors as would be expected. By not choosing violence, he became a unifying factor and a threat.

‘Personal is International, International is Person’ 

Enloe’s ‘Personal is International, International is Person’ means that things that affect international politics start from the personal level. therefore, while one may think that their personal lives are private and, therefore, have nothing to do with the politics around them, the truth is usually different. The author, therefore, encouraged women to understand the world around them because it affected them (Enloe 343). according to the feminist, one cannot live independently from the politics of the world around them. Knowing global politics is necessary for making the required changes.

In the movie, Enloe’s idea is apparent in how the choices in O’Neal’s personal decisions end up affecting the Civil Rights Movement and, therefore, the country and world in general. The young man was arrested because of a crime that involved him and would, therefore, be expected to affect him alone. However, the crime led to him betraying the BPP, a movement that would affect global politics by uniting the communists and the US civil rights groups that resisted oppression at the time. Also, the participation of Deborah Johnson, Hampton’s wife, in the movement is covered in the story. As a woman, even though her role may have been seen as minimal, she supported her husband and enabled him to provide the needed guidance. As a wife, her decisions and actions in her private life, such as her being pregnant for Hampton, affected the civil rights movement. Therefore, her awareness and commitment to justice affected her marriage, which also impacted the movement and the country in general.

Works Cited

Enloe, Cynthia. Bananas, beaches and bases: Making feminist sense of international politics. Univ of California Press, 2014.

Judas and the Black Messiah. Dir. Shaka King. 2021.

Rai, Dhananjay, and Rityusha Mani Tiwary. “Gandhi and Satyagraha—A quest for global transformation: A review essay on the international seminar.” Social Change 51.1 (2021): 121-133.

Slate, Nico. “A Dangerous Idea: Nonviolence as Tactic and Philosophy.” Modern Intellectual History 18.4 (2021): 1130-1154.

Thoreau, H. D. (2023). On the duty of civil disobedience. Lindhardt og Ringhof.