A chronicle of Fred Hampton's revolutionary leadership of the Illinois Black Panther Party, followed by an investigation into his assassination at the hands of the Chicago Police Department.A chronicle of Fred Hampton's revolutionary leadership of the Illinois Black Panther Party, followed by an investigation into his assassination at the hands of the Chicago Police Department.A chronicle of Fred Hampton's revolutionary leadership of the Illinois Black Panther Party, followed by an investigation into his assassination at the hands of the Chicago Police Department.
- Awards
- 1 win
- Self - Attorney
- (archive footage)
- Self - State's Atty Police
- (archive footage)
- Self - Police Officer
- (archive footage)
- (as James 'Gloves' Davis)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Self (Illinois State's Attorney)
- (archive footage)
- (as Edward V. Hanrahan)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Self - Cook County Bar Assn.
- (archive footage)
- Self - Attorney
- (archive footage)
- Self - Pres., Afro-American Police Assn.
- (archive footage)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as 'Doc' Satchel)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Self - Maywood Councilman
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMy uncle was involved with this film. The cameraman, Mike Gray, had to go into hiding in CA for months with the film canisters because he fillmed the evidence of the real bedroom door with bullets going one way. He went behind the yellow police tape the day before Hanrahan's men switched to the false door that showed 2 way shooting.
- Quotes
Bobby Seale: You know what we are gonna do? We are going to defend ourselves. Because Huey P. Newton says that power - power is the ability to define phenomena and make it act in a designed manner. Power is the ability - to define phenomena - and make it act in a designed manner. What kind of phenomena? Social phenomena! What is a social phenomena? Black people, Mexican Americans, any kind of people, begins to learn that the social phenomena is that, in fact, U.S., racist, decadent, capitalist, imperialist America is a police state. And a police state exists here and that these pigs are doing nothing but protecting the average businessman and the demogoging politicians, protecting the exploiting system they got going. That, in fact, we are tire of it, we are sick of it. You've been brutalizing black people. You've been murdering and lynching us. Black people are tired of it!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Underground (1976)
This film follows the last year or so of Fred's life and the investigation immediately following his murder.
The first part of the film shows Fred speaking and organizing and provides a brief glimpse into the Panther community programs such as free breakfasts for school children, as well as a fairly good portrayal of Hampton's dynamic speaking abilities, vast depth of knowledge for someone so young, and his passion for the revolutionary struggle of all oppressed people worldwide regardless of race.
The remainder of the film focuses on Fred's murder including footage of the crime scene. The attacking police unit was so secret that the local precinct was not notified to clean things up after the bodies were removed. As a result the Panthers and their attorneys filmed and collected a vast amount of evidence which proved the police and states' attorneys were lying. The police and government arguments are given, interspersed with contradictory proof by the Panthers and their attorneys proving that this was not a raid gone sour, but rather a carefully planned assassination. The photo of the police smiling joyously as they carry Hampton's body out of the apartment is ominous.
This film was made right after Fred Hampton was murdered, and before the Panthers were aware that one of their own - William O'Neal - was actually an FBI informant who provided the police with the map of Fred Hampton's apartment. It was also filmed years before the information about the FBI's COINTELPRO campaign was made public. It is a great piece of history which gives a rare fair treatment to the Black Panther Party.
- POD-6
- Apr 9, 2003
Details
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1