"I am a revolutionary!"

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

It is not easy to change society. The people of the top of the perch want to continue having their nice view undisturbed. Those in the middle rung wish to have continued access to the top and maintain their gateway to positions whilst asserting dominance upon the plebians under their feet. The plebians, well, they are a pathetic lot. They bicker amongst themselves to be king, imagining the changes in their lives upon springboarding to the top. 

The minions' blinded voracious appetite is not the only impeding factor that prevents them from reaching the top. The kingmakers also send in their instigators and moles to derail any flicker of progress.

The Civil War was not started by the Northerners because of altruistic intentions, because they could not stomach seeing black slaves being treated worse than animals. It was economics, stupid. The Union just wanted to liberate the slaves and pack them off to Africa, specifically Liberia, not treat them as an equal inhabitant of the USA. The slaves were emancipated, but nobody wanted to go anywhere. So they stayed back but were harassed of their liberties by the Klan members and bound by the Jim Crow laws.

Rainbow Coalition logo

Despite the restrictive living conditions that they were exposed to, some sociologists saw marked improvement in their living standards. As slavery was outlawed the world over, fellow African formers from the Carribeans and South Americans looked up to their American counterparts as role models. This era also saw intellectuals like Booker T Washington (1856-1915), born into slavery, who rose to become an intellectual and advisor to President Theodore Roosevelt. He established Tuskegee Institute (later University) in Alabama. Washington believed that the way to advance is to be pally with the ruling establishment, concentrate on education, learn valuable trades, and investing in their own businesses. This, he believed, would eventually lead to equal political and civil rights.

However, his nemesis, W E D Du Bois (1868-1963), a Ph D in history scholar, disagreed. He abhorred segregation and demanded equal rights for all blacks. Du Bois believed that racism is an inevitable effect of capitalism. He became a card-carrying member of the Communist Party, but his work spearheaded the subsequent black civil rights movement. 

The 1920s America also saw the Harlem Renaissance when African American culture, manifesting in literature, music, stage performance, and art, became mainstream.

Despite Washington and Du Bois' efforts, lynching and inequality continued.  

In the mid-20th century, other black leaders came to the fore with different strategies. Dr Martin Luther King advocated his passive, non-violent movement. Some took a militant stance. Elijah Muhammad and his 'Nation of Islam' united blacks under the Islamic religion were asking for a separate nation. Malcolm-X broke away from the 'Nation of Islam' and concentrated on social improvement efforts. The 'Black Panther Party' screamed for a revolution.

Fred Hampton (1948-1969)

In 1968, the Illinois Chapter of the 'Black Panther Party' piqued the FBI's radar, notably J Edgar Hoover. Its charismatic leader, Fred Hampton, was getting popular. He found a place in the hearts of the poor via the party's breakfast programme to feed the poor kids. Medical clinics were set up to meet their medical needs. He even tried to unite various fringe societies through his Rainbow coalition. Not only did he reached out to blacks, but his party also formed allegiances with Latino immigrants 'Young Lords', black gangs of Chicago and the group called 'Young Patriots', of poor white Confederate-supporting workers who came from the Southern states of the USA.

It was a time when Chicago was easily the most divided cities in the world. Police brutality was rife, and the mayor's support base was uneasy with the migration of poor blacks, Latinos and even 'white trash' into their neighbourhood. However, cooperation between these newcomers and the scream of political revolutions did not augur well for the local white population who had lived there for generations.

With the FBI's cooperation, the Chicago police planted a mole in the Black Panthers Party to monitor the party's activities and subsequently kill Fred Hampton. This movie is the story of the whole operation through the eyes of the police informant, William O'Neal.

Fred Hampton is portrayed like Jesus, the Messiah, the revolutionary who united a motley crew of marginalised people against a mighty but despotic Roman regime. But, unfortunately, Pontius Pilate and his sycophants saw Christ as a troublemaker instead. And Judas, like O'Neal, doublecrossed Jesus by being a follower for a meagre sum of money. Like Judas too, in the latter part of his life, O'Neal is said to have committed suicide for the sell-out. This, he is said to have done after his 'bare-it-all interview with the PBS channel. Others like to believe the 'accident' was 'arranged' by the FBI for his exposé.

The issues, all the while, have been the same by all movements - demand for good education, decent housing, adequate medical coverage, fair trials and an end to police brutality. It is pretty much the same ring even today.

Note the Confederate flag and Black Panther logo in the background on the same platform. 

One screams of White Supremacy and the other of Black Consciousness.

[When black, white and brown banded together to make life better for communities in need via 

The Rainbow Coalition, the power elite got so frightened, they had to kill it.]

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World politics is not so easy!

Black Panther (2017)

Congregations of all religions all over the world pray for peace on Earth. The preachers sell the idea that we are all of a single tribe and we should all live in harmony and pray 'Kum ba yah'. In reality, life is far from that.

Just like rain can be a boon to one set of society while it is abhorred by the other, doing good cannot be taken as a singular act. Sometimes, a leader has to make the unpopular step which he knows that it would benefit the nation in the end. Again, it is no easy task. Nobody has the crystal ball to show them the way. Sometimes the leaders have to bow to the pressures of the lobbyist who put them there in the first place. And least of all, a 'good' person who wants to do the best for everyone would fail miserably. 

'Black Panther' is a full-length feature film of a black superhero and a king of a fictitious country in Africa named Wakanda. Long ago, a mysterious meteorite containing vibranium which had unique qualities hits this part of the world. Vibranium is useful to generate power, technology, Captain America's shield and even gives superhuman attributes when ingested with a particular herb. The secret of vibranium is guarded closely against the rest of the world. Mayhem ensues when foreigners put it up for sale in the black market, assisted by double-crossers within the clan.

T'Challa, the heir to the throne, the protagonist returns to claim his due. The life decisions that he has to make forms the basis of this somewhat different Marvel superhero film.

©variety.com

Along the story, I could not help but ask myself why with so much technology in Wakanda did the ordinary people live like Masai tribe people with bare belongings and simple lifestyles. Even though skyscrapers were visible, magnetic levitation trains speed through the countryside and Star War-like spacecraft swish through effortlessly through the country's airspace, the general public do not seem to exude modernity.

It may appear altruistic to share all your nation's wealth with the rest of the world. It may only be the right thing to treat everybody as part of the human race, to treat each other as brothers and sisters, in reality, it is really a wild world. Again and again, we have seen that it is human nature, maybe it is the selfish gene within us, that we want to possess everything. We always want to ensure we are not caught stranded hungry and cold. We want to be prepared.

For example, look at the USA. Even though it has the most significant stockpile of petroleum, it is more keen to create pandemonium in the rest of the world for others to sell their oil cheap!

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