As Black Panther continues to break records a year after its release, Warner Bros has reportedly been working to create another film with a similar name- a biopic film about Fred Hampton, the iconic leader of the Black Panther Party who was killed at the age of 21.
Directed by Ryan Coogler, the film, tentatively titled Jesus is My Homeboy, is reportedly set to star Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) as Hampton and Lakeith Stanfield as William O’Neal, the FBI agent who infiltrated the group. It will be directed by Shaka King (Newlyweeds), who along with Will Berson (Sea Oak) wrote the script for the film.
The film’s plotline will center around O’Neal’s infiltration of the group and how he ingrained himself with Hampton and others, yet betrayed them by providing detailed plans of Hampton’s apartment to the FBI- plans that ultimately led to the death of Hampton and fellow Panther Mark Clark in 1969. The two were killed during a raid by a tactical unit that was authorized by both the Chicago Police Department and the FBI.
A charismatic leader, Hampton, a college student at the time, rose to prominence after becoming involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), developing a youth group of over 500 activists. During the time period, Hampton also became involved with the Black Panther Party where his emphasis was nonviolent conflict resolution and providing better opportunities to people within Chicago’s most impoverished neighborhoods.
In January 1970, following an inquest, a coroner’s jury ruled the Hampton and Clark’s deaths to as justifiable homicide. However, in 1982, the survivors and the relatives of Hampton and Clark filed a civil lawsuit, which was resolved with a settlement of $1.85 million. (The City of Chicago, Cook County, and the federal government each paid a third to the nine plaintiffs.)
