Warner Bros just released the trailer for "Judas and the Black Messiah" movie yesterday and it is nothing short of exciting! The movie is a biopic about the assassination of Black Panther Party leader, Fred Hampton.

It was directed by Shaka King and stars Oscar-nominated actor Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and Lakeith Stanfield as William O’Neal; an FBI informant whose betrayal leads to Hampton’s death. Based on the roles you may now understand why the title is so clever.

Other cast members of the movie includes Jesse Plemons, Dominque Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Lil Rel Howery, Jermaine Fowler, Martin Sheen, Robert Longstreet, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Dominique Thorne, Caleb Eberhardt and Amari Cheatom.

The movies was initially set to be released on Aug 21, 2020 but due to the pandemic, it has been scheduled for release in theatres in 2021.

Watch the trailer of the movie below:

 The trailer looks at the relationship between the two men and the unfortunate downfall of the Black Panther Party. The trailer starts of at a Black Panther meeting where members are chanting "I am a revolutionary". The scene then cuts to William O'Neal who nervously catches glimpse of an FBI agent in the crowd, knowing he will later betray, Black Panther leader, Fred Hampton. The trailer goes on to depict how the FBI viewed the Black Panther party and the deal they made with William O'Neals to capture Fred Hampton and dismantle the Black Panther party.

History and Timeline of the Black Panther Party

• October 15, 1966: The Black Panther Party is founded by Marxist college students Bobby Seale (Chairman) and Huey Newton (Minister of Defense) in  Oakland, California. The Party was founded to protect African Americans from police brutality and to provide basic needs for those striped of their rights in Oakland. They used their rights to bear arms in the protection of African American in their community. A few months later, they begin their first police-watching patrols.

• January 1967: The BPP opens its first official headquarters in an Oakland storefront, and publishes the first issue of The Black Panthers: Black Community News Service
  
  
• February 1967: BPP members serve as security escorts for Betty Shabazz Malcolm X's widow and keynote speaker for a conference held in his honor.
  
  
• April 1967: After the killing of Denzil Dowell by police in North Richmond, the Black Panther Party held rallies that educated community members about self defense.
  
  
• May 2, 1967: The California State Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure discuss whether carrying loaded firearms should be illegal. Thirty people representing the BPP go to California state capitol with guns, attracting the Party's first national media attention.
  
  
• July 1967: United Front Against Fascism conference held in Oakland in which about 5,000 people were in attendence
  
  
• August 1967: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) described the BPP as the greatest threat to the internal security of the country and initiated its program "COINTELPRO" to "neutralize . . . black nationalist hate groups". The main goal of this was to weak and dismantle black militant groupss
  
  
• October 28, 1967: Huey Newton allegedly kills police officer John Frey.
  
  
• April 6, 1968: Panther Bobby Hutton, a BBP treasurer at the age of 16, was shot and killed by police after confronting Oakland police officers
  
  
• Mid-July 1968: Huey Newton's murder trial commences. Panthers hold daily "Free Huey" rallies outside the courthouse.
  
  
• August 5, 1968: Three Panthers killed in a gun battle with police at a Los Angeles gas station.
  
  
• Early September 1968: Newton convicted of manslaughter.
  
  
• Late September 1968: Days before he is due to return to prison to serve out a rape conviction, Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver (BBP memeber) escape to Algeria.
  
  
• November 1968: The BPP finds numerous supporters, establishing relationships with the Peace and Freedom Party and SNCC.
  
  
• November 6, 1968: Lauren Watson, head of the Denver chapter, is arrested by Denver Police for fleeing a police officer and resisting arrest.
  
• November 20, 1968: William Lee Brent and two accomplices in a van marked "Black Panther Black Community News Service" allegedly rob a gas station in San Francisco's Bayview district of $80, resulting in a shootout with police.

• Late November 1968: Newton calls the BPP to serve the people by creating and making survival programs a priority within its branches. This include the Free Breakfast For Children program which served as a space for educating youth about the current condition of the Black community, and the actions that the Party was taking to address that condition. The Party was able to influence young minds, and grow communities relationships with this program effectively.
  
  
• January 14, 1969: At least two Panthers are killed in a violent conflict with police.
  
  
• May 1969: Two more southern California Panthers are killed in violent disputes with US Organization members.
  
  
• May 1969: Alex Rackley of the New York chapter was tortured and murdered by BPP members because he was suspected of being an informant.
  
  
• July 1969: The first Liberation School was opened by the Richmond Black Panthers with the notion of providing better education that white schools
  
  
• Late July 1969: The BPP ideology undergoes a shift, with a turn toward self-discipline and anti-racism.
  
  
• August 1969: Bobby Seale (a BPP leader) is indicted and imprisoned in relation to the Rackley murder.
  
  
• Mid-to-late 1969: COINTELPRO activity increases to dismantle the Black Panther Party movement
  
  
• December 4, 1969: Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are killed by law enforcement in Chicago.
  
  
• Late 1969: David Hilliard, current BPP head, advocates violent revolution. Panther membership is down significantly from the late 1968 peak.
  
  
• May 1970: Huey Newton's conviction is overturned, but he remains incarcerated.
  
  
• August 1970: Newton is released from prison.
  
  
• January 1971: Newton expels senior members of the Black Panther Party.
  
  
• February 1971: Newton expels the entire international section of the BBP.
  
  
• Spring 1971: the Newton and Cleaver factions engage in retaliatory assassinations of each other's members, resulting in the deaths of four people.
• May 1971: Bobby Seale is acquitted of ordering the Rackley murder, and returns to Oakland.
  
  
• Mid-to-late 1971: nationally, hundreds of Party members quit the BPP.
  
  
• Early 1972: Newton shuts down chapters around the country, and calls the key members to Oakland.
  
  
• Mid-1972: BPP members or supporters win a number of minor offices in the Oakland city elections but fail to win political power in the Oakland city government. Many Party members resign after the losses.
  
  
• 1973: The BPP focuses nearly all of its resources on winning political power in the Oakland city government. Many Party members resign after the losses.
  
  
• Early 1974: Newton continues to expel party members.
  
  
• August 1974: Newton murders Kathleen Smith, a teenage prostitute. He flees to Cuba. Elaine Brown takes over the leadership in his absence.
  
  
• December 1974: Accountant Betty van Patter is murdered, after threatening to disclose irregularities in the Party's finances.

History of Fred Hampton

Who was Fred Hampton?

Fred Hampton was born on Aug 30, 1948 in Chicago, Illinois, and died on December 4, 1969. As a youth, he became an active leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). There, he proved to be a natural leader and was able to lead about 500 youth members. He worked to get more and better recreational facilities established in the neighborhoods and to improve educational resources for impoverished black communities.

Fred Hampton joined the Black Panther Party in November 1968 and later become became deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Party. Hampton did well to organize rallies, established a Free Breakfast program, and negotiated a peace pact among rival gangs.

Hampton's involvement with the BPP resulted in a file being opened against him. The FBI asked William O'Neal, a convicted felon, to help them arrest Fred Hampton, in exchange for his felony charges being dropped.

 William O'Neal rose up the ranks to became Hampton's security and bodyguard. O'Neal helped to instigated various riots and wars against Party members as instructed by the FBI which led to many murders amongst part members.

As a member of the Fred Hampton's security, William O'Neal was able to identify where the party member kept their guns and reported this to his authorities.

On December 3rd, 1969, William O'Neal met up with several party members at Hampton's chicago apartment for a late night dinner. O'Neal prepared the dinner and managed to slip barbiturate sleeping agent secobarbitol into Fred Hampton's drink. This was so Hampton would not wake up during the planned raid the next day.

How did Fred Hampton Die?

On December 4th, 1969, the police raided Hampton's apartment and killed his security guard. They then proceed to open fire on him while he was sleeping. After the initial shot, he was only wounded and alive. However, when an officer saw this, he opened fire and shot Hampton twice in the head to kill him. The remaining seven Panthers who were with Hampton were not killed and were all arrested and indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempted murder, armed violence, and a variety of weapons charges. These charges were eventually dropped when during a later investigation, it was discovered that Chicago Police fired ninety-nine shots while the Panthers only shot once.

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