Jason Hernandez’s Film Review. “The Man who armed the Panthers”

The Black Panther Party is known for its members to walk around with firearms to demonstrate their rights to hold them. But if there was the government who was against this organization, then how did the members obtain the firearms? A man named Richard Aoki was an FBI informant that nobody knew about. Aoki was politically involved in different forms of protests or riots. Soon enough, he was involved in the group called “The Asian American Political Alliance.” This led to him having connections with the Black Panther party, especially his close connection with one of the leaders named Huey Newton. When the Black Panther party started, it was mainly focused on patrolling the police in Oakland, California. If there was an police officer interacting with an citizen, then a black panther member would stand by with a camera and hold an unloaded firearm. These members wanted to be eye witnesses to prevent police brutality. In order for them to obtain firearms, the Black Panther Party turned to Aoki and told him about the organization’s plan. Aoki supported this and provided them with the firearms. As mentioned before, Aoki was the FBI’s informant but what I found weird is that his name was the only one shown in the files. All the other informants’ names were deleted off it. Aoki was known as a big political figure, especially with his connection with Black Panther Party members such as Huey Newton. The FBI has files about the various organizations that Aoki was involved with. But there were no files about Aoki himself. I find it amazing how no one knew about Aoki until years later. He was an smart and talented figure who wanted a change in society, such as the Black Panther party. But I am left in confusion for why the FBI hasn’t released the files about Aoki himself. Did the FBI do something with Aoki that they don’t want anyone else to know about?

Judas and the Black Messiah Film Review: “Judas and the Black Messiah” is based on the events of the Black Panther Party. It revolves around an FBI Agent,Roy Mitchell, who wants to infiltrate the Black Panther Party by using one of its members known as Bill O’Neal. This film was able to depict to the audience about the reality of this organization. Where the group’s enemies was not just the government and the police force, but even their own members themselves. We see Fred Hampton and Bill O’Neal as they struggles to keep themselves safe while being members of the Black Panther Party. The film did an great job in depicting this period of time through the protagonists themselves. It was even hard to watch sometimes as someone who may have never seen or experienced these extreme events. Overall, the film was great with story alignment and had great actors who showed devotion to their roles. As someone who has read about the Black Panther Party, I would say that this film did a great job to share the organization’s story.