Shaka King
Judas and the Black Messiah Puts a Nostalgic Lens On a Modern-Day Struggle: Review
The Pitch: The early morning of December 4th, 1969 served as an exclamation point for this country’s most tumultuous decade. The assassinations of Medgar Evers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X; became jarring reminders that the virtues of morality, peace, and equality would never supersede the ideology that the United States was built on – racism. At 21 years old, Fred Hampton’s life may have been cut short, but his legacy continues to live on. Directed by Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah is not only a film about the political killing of one of the movement’s most promising figures, but an exploration of the inner turmoil plaguing the man who set him up – and the mindset of many others like him. In a powerful montage, the film opens with footage focused on quotes and spee...
