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‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Town Hall on Sway In The Morning | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Feb 12, 2021
The cast of the Fred Hampton movie ‘Judas and The Black Messiah’ sat down with the Sway In The Morning team to talk about making this epic movie.
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‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Town Hall on Sway In The Morning | SWAY’S UNIVERSE https://youtu.be/RAB57IRgMPM
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0:00
Welcome everyone. What an amazing time it is that we can all be together on this festive day, man
0:05
Big round of applause. Everybody that's in the room right now, we celebrating Judas and the Black Messiah
0:11
We got an esteemed cast of characters here with us today. They're all friends, man. We know them all
0:18
Tracy, can you do the honor? Who we got in the room tonight? Oh my gosh. Exceptional circle from the director, producer to some of the cast, Shaka King
0:26
Danielle Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, our baby girl, Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah is what we're here to unpack and celebrate
0:36
Absolutely. It's interesting. It's a celebration because I just want to say thank you, Shaka, for this movie that you wrote and directed and the way you portray Fred Hampton
0:49
because I'll tell you a quick story. You know, I'm from Oakland, California
0:54
and I often hear stories of when I was too old, I mean, too young to walk
0:59
when my mother was actually a part of the movement. And so my mother used to go to East Oakland
1:04
and she used to pack the lunches and she would put the proteins with the meats
1:08
with the breads, and then they would rent a house over in North Oakland and Berkeley
1:12
And that's where the Black Panthers would have their soup kitchens. So I was in a carrier, you know
1:18
I was in a baby carriage, in the 70s and I was a part of all of this and what I remember growing up about the Panthers
1:25
was that that we always ate they implemented a child care center in Oakland public school
1:31
district I ended up going to one of the child care centers I remember they kept us educated
1:35
they kept us clothed and they implemented the sicker cell shots that they start taking in Oakland
1:42
in the 70s so in terms of our health they were always concerned about the health now I didn't
1:47
necessarily grow up with my fist in the air. I was too young, but that whole ideology was
1:52
implemented in me from a youth. And so whenever I grew up and I would hear the way stories were
1:58
told about Huey P. Newton or Fred Hampton or any of the Black Panther affiliates, that allegory was
2:05
always incorrect. It was always off base to me. It never told the full story. And there was a line
2:13
in this movie i don't want to give away too much um when one of the mothers after her son was killed
2:19
and the headline just smeared his name and what his legacy was about and i'm a paraphrase she said
2:26
wow why does his legacy have to be like that and looking at this movie you know prior to seeing
2:33
this movie i was i would always say wow why does the fred hampton legacy have to be painted like
2:38
that. And you did such an excellent job as showing us who he was as a whole, whole well-rounded
2:45
person. I want to salute you for that. And I want to ask you, my first question is when writing this
2:51
was how important was that to you to show the many layers of who Fred Hampton and his legacy was
2:57
It was paramount. It was the reason, you know, for moving forward with it
3:02
because like you said, you know, so much propaganda has been put forth about, and not just
3:10
you know, the fact of the matter is, I think even for a lot of us who grew up loving the Panthers
3:16
our understanding of them has been really confined to their militarism and their, and their
3:22
outfits, their clothing, their parents, and not attention, not enough attention has been paid
3:29
to the fact that they were community organizers. They were thinkers. I mean, I'm so glad you mentioned the sickle cell
3:37
because one of the things that we, that postscript at the end
3:41
where we kind of give you the history following the events of December 4th is long
3:47
but there was a piece of information I can't start regret not putting it in there
3:52
but that I wanted to put in there, which was that that sickle cell program
3:56
was so effective and embarrassed you know the u.s government so much that they had to implement richard nixon had to implement a
4:04
sickle cell program following that and the same goes for you know free breakfast in public schools
4:09
the roots of that lie with the black panthers you know um and so it was just important to
4:17
give you a sense you know the fact that these are people who are motivated by love all of their
4:22
actions were motivated by a love of their people you know absolutely in making this your i mean
4:28
obviously the historical context a lot of it you could find through your research you know and
4:33
how accurately you you portrayed it i like even like the sequence of events that you were able to
4:38
fit in the movie but who were some of the advisors that you talked to outside were there any black
4:43
panthers that you were able to communicate with that gave you some insight definitely um you know
4:48
I met through a few people, Lynn French, who was a member of the Illinois chapter, and she introduced me to Joan McCarty, who then introduced me to her husband, Michael McCarty, or former, I'm sorry, ex-husband, Michael McCarty
5:01
You know, rest in peace, Bruce Dixon, who recently passed away. He had some conversations with me
5:11
Donna Calvin, who was also a member of the chapter. Blair Anderson had a number of conversations with me and we're actually
5:19
dialogue quite frequently. He was a survivor of the assassination and wounded during the assassination
5:27
We've had a lot of talks. And obviously no one has been more influential in terms of our
5:34
conversations than chairman Fred Hampton Jr. and Akua Najiri. Fred Hampton Jr., man, salute to that young brother, right
5:43
come on he came to our future absolutely always he came to our chicago broadcast remember that
5:49
have to be oh yes yes yes that was some years ago but definitely salute to him salute yeah he was on
5:55
set every day uh from the second week of filming on he was on set every day and akuna jerry made
6:02
several visits to the set as well and we've been in dialogue with him for about a year leading up
6:08
to the to the shoot okay so he was happy with it because you know if he wasn't he would have shut
6:13
the set down you know oh i know i know i mean one of one of the stipulations for him being involved
6:21
was that he'd be on set every day uh just so that and that's not to say that it wasn't without
6:27
conflict and challenges like we had you know we we had to make pivots on the fly a lot of times
6:35
you know to accommodate things that he might have read one or two times in the script but it's very
6:40
different reading the screenplay and then seeing it happen in front of you something he'd pick up
6:44
on something and say oh no we can't do it this way and we would either have to adjust in the
6:49
moment to accommodate his needs and sometimes we couldn't accommodate them and he would have to
6:53
kind of sit with that and that was challenging for him as well so it was really the a process
6:59
of finding points of interest that intersected you know what I mean um and it made me grow
7:06
as an artist, I'm sure they'll all say the same because they had to do a lot of thinking on the fly as well
7:11
Daniel, especially, he had to, you know, he'd have learned the speeches in the dialect
7:16
he's been practicing. And I'd be like, hey, man, I know I said I was going to do this
7:21
but here some new pages for you to learn You got 20 minutes So he would do it You have to step up and do it you know So I just applaud everybody on the screen
7:35
And also I applaud, always have to applaud Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. for just, like, going on that ride with us, you know
7:42
Absolutely. I'm going to let the queens jump in, HB. You want to tap in
7:46
Hi to everybody again, and thank you so much. Shaka, beautiful job
7:52
I watched it twice. I was just so blown away. And for me, Lakeith, Daniel and Dominique, they are becoming like when I see the name, you know, Mahershala Ali, when I see Angela Bassett, when I see it with certain names, I automatically want to go see those films
8:13
And that's who these three are to me. As soon as I see their names, I'm like, I'm going to see it. Don Cheadle, like I'm going to see it. That's who they that's who they are for me right now. And so great job. I hate it. I hate it. Lakeith so much in this film. It was like it's just a testament to how great he did as a job. I felt for Dominique in his film. And I admired, you know, what Daniel was able to do
8:37
how do you guys approach like for you Dominique when you got the call like did you did you scream
8:44
did you feel like oh my gosh did you feel the weight of the world what was your approach to
8:48
this role sis because you killed like you killed it so much thank you actually I got an email
8:53
saying that Shaka wanted to meet me because he was doing a story on Chairman Fred Hampton and
9:00
Daniel LaKeep already attached Ryan Coogler Charles King and I was kind of like I couldn't
9:04
I had to reread the email because I was like, they said it's mine or I got to audition for this bad boy
9:10
So I meet with Shaka in a cafe in Brooklyn and he says, you know, the role is yours
9:18
I'm like, wait, is it mine, mine? Or you had to talk to somebody? Like I had to really clarify. He leaned back. He's like laughing
9:24
And he says, so read the script. And I read the script and I send him an email about all of the things that I love
9:30
And I say I have two thoughts, but I don't want to overstep. so let me know if you want to hear them. And he says, you'll be playing her. You can't overstep
9:37
Give me your notes. And so I gave him two. One was that the first thing she says to
9:43
one of the first things she says is, do you like poetry? And the Panthers are, and we're very poetic
9:47
but we don't hear a poem. I think we missed an opportunity. And he says, I think you're right
9:52
Do you want to take a shot at that poem? So he allowed me to write the poem in the movie
9:57
And then another thing that was really important to me was I wanted to make sure that although we
10:02
don't have a lot of space for her to see her world outside of loving Chairman Fred, I thought it was
10:08
really important that she had something of her own. So that's why the journal was really important
10:14
because then the poem wouldn't come out of nowhere. I spent a lot of time journaling, writing poems
10:18
about their first kiss, right? Like every moment that I could think of, I really dove into the
10:24
emotional world. And the fact that I wanted to make sure that Daniel and I both wanted to make
10:29
sure that we knew that chairman fred loved her for her mind and uh not just her body or not just
10:35
because she stuck by him through jail a lot of times in love narratives for black women we have
10:41
to prove ourselves worthy of love and commitment and i just wanted to make sure that that didn't
10:46
seem like the case and not that not that anybody would try to do that but from like lack of
10:51
awareness and and paying attention to so many moving parts i just really was uh talk to shaka
10:56
about that. Dope. So dope. Thank you. You guys really challenged me to hold so many emotions
11:04
at once, you know, and at the center of this film for me was communication. We see the power of
11:11
communication happening at secret dinners, right? We see the power of communication on the podium
11:16
We see communication when it comes to a poet and Fred's side amongst other things, but then we see
11:22
the communication when it comes to a antagonist on William's side. Right. And the conversation I
11:30
had with my boyfriend just about what's the difference between a snitch and a rat. Right
11:34
And then we really started getting into a conversation when it came to a complicated
11:39
dark character that is William O'Neill, who's the FBI informant. Is William the enemy or is he
11:49
the worst product of an environment created by white supremacy i think that's something that
11:56
all of y'all can touch on i would love to hear perspectives it's a good question i mean i think
12:01
initially for me um approaching william one now he was definitely then um from what i could see
12:08
from his interview on eyes on the prize it was like uh i remember walking away from that
12:13
documentary like see that's the reason why we can't move forward it's because the mothers
12:17
like as I dug deeper into what I started to realize that you know just the extent to which
12:26
the government went to try and see someone like Chairman Fred Hampton dead quite frankly they don't
12:33
want these people around that can organize have dissent and organize people and mobilize people
12:41
in a way that represents a threat apparently to them so I walked away from this story and being
12:47
involved with this actually feeling like it was more the government entities that felt like more
12:52
the enemy to me and even someone that was sort of the foot soldier for them he was of course
12:58
motivated by fear and a lot of things that made him feel that he was pushed into a tight space
13:04
in place but apparently the rules that the government runs by and moves by or claims to
13:09
run by move by can be broken when it's convenient for them to bring about the things that they want
13:14
to bring about. So the hypocrisy and just the immense amount of infiltration and violence
13:19
made me walk away feeling like, damn, you know, who's the real enemy here? You know
13:24
you got to ask some kind of questions. But I think not being, being motivated by fear and gluttony
13:34
and materialistic things and ego, all of these things lead to you betraying yourself
13:40
at the end of the day. So it makes it easier for you to betray others
13:45
And I think that was a beautiful part of what O'Neill represented in the story to me
13:51
that I want people to maybe pay a little bit of attention to how he might represent capitalism
13:56
and there's implications behind that. And how we see, you know, that gluttony and greed
14:02
only feeds a machine that serves to not serve us. I mean, so that's all right
14:09
very thoughtful response absolutely did we congratulate Daniel on the Golden Globe and Screen Actor
14:18
Skill nomination for Best Support Did we do that yet? Have we done that yet
14:23
We haven't done that yet Come on boy Come on Well deserved
14:29
You got your speech ready D? I don't even think like that bro
14:34
I don't even think like that I'm just happy that more people are going to
14:38
watch this film because a lot of people do look at these recognition organizations to go what to watch and what not to watch
14:43
So there are more people going to take in Chairman Fred's words in the Black Panther Party. That's for me the biggest win
14:48
You know, it's like that's that's how I see it. So that for that, it's a blessing for me
14:54
How familiar were you with Fred Hampton in the Black Panther Party before taking this role More the Black Panther Party than Chairman Fred
15:05
Chairman Fred came around me. I remember being at a place and I saw the date he was born and the date he was assassinated and go, wait, wait, that doesn't make sense
15:12
Wait, how old was he? I thought it was a typo. I thought it was actually a typo
15:18
And I went on, I was like, we all like, and I Googled it and this is that. And I was like, oh, he's 21
15:22
They assassinated him at 21. then I was like wait hold on he was chairman of the Illinois chapter of Black Panther Party at 21
15:28
so I knew I was like oh that's something I want to go deeper in um and um and I could see I was
15:35
like kind of taking in you know like just being a young black man in a western construct you're kind of taking in stuff to empower yourself so I was taking in the Black Panther Party's
15:42
ideologies just naturally you know just like through conversations with friends and like
15:46
documentaries and books so that's that kind of new stuff I knew I would want to go deeper into
15:52
it when I had a bit more quiet time you know what did you walk away with from playing this role that
15:58
you didn't have before playing this role I mean I mean I don't think I think it's not like I didn't
16:08
have it it was just like it was um confirmed and deepened it was um it was like a confirmed
16:16
deepened and aware you know of of of of the power of self-love the power of like loving your own
16:27
loving your community pouring love within within your community you know i always had a saying that
16:31
really spoke to me there's a saying in england that i see like do something start small start
16:36
local keep going you know that's that's been my career really like i did this in my area
16:42
this and that you know but and they were doing they just did they did that you know it was like
16:47
it confirmed something that was gravitating towards you know i had that as my as my like
16:51
phone wallpaper for like a year or two just that saying you know and so it's kind of like it so it
16:56
just it's it spoke to me you know it's about about it kind of but i think one one thing that i didn't
17:02
have before was seeing how chairman fred and black panther party navigated the rainbow coalition
17:07
yeah and speak on that yeah going towards the young lords and young patriots young patrons
17:13
especially having conflict with them and finding points of interest but not in sacrifice of your
17:18
love of blackness and your love of the black community you know i didn't i wasn't aware i was
17:23
either like evil or you know i was in that kind of mindset it's either there boom boom bam you know
17:28
or like if you're aligned with certain things that is to sacrifice or sell out you know and i
17:34
see i i saw i was like wow he just did this you know and he and he understood it on a deeper level
17:41
and he wasn't um uh intertwined with the triggers do you mean that that causes fragmentation
17:48
that doesn't you know that that causes you to fight fire with fire essentially you know
17:53
he was like no no no let's make this war let's make this war let's take this out you know um
17:58
That, for me, I didn't have before this process. That's amazing, man
18:05
And as he's talking and shock, I'm thinking of, I really think that's what made him such
18:13
a threat to J. Edgar Hoover in the United States government, his ability to really communicate
18:19
with others and galvanize others. and um and i and i watched this movie and and this is cyclical what we're seeing that happen
18:28
to fred hampton i mean you know there's a fred hampton in every century you know what i mean and
18:33
even in this century i almost feel like the movie can to be a a book of a guidance book for some of
18:40
our people in the trenches today some of our front liners right now you know almost even a
18:45
cautionary tale when you look at the my son the generals the tamika mallory's the the killer mikes
18:51
the TIs, you know, the folks that are here in the States marching
18:55
Would you agree with that? Or was that even, you know, did that thought even cross your mind as well
19:02
I hope people today can learn from what we saw then. Well, I mean, you know, the truth is I wrote this from the perspective of so little has shifted that we could all benefit from the telling of this tale, you know
19:18
um but what's been interesting to find in you know doing pre-screening for organizers
19:24
pre-screenings for organizers is hearing them come back to us and say this was my experience
19:29
in Ferguson my phone was tapped drones were following me you know we had someone infiltrate
19:35
our organization we had to beat his ass we had to do this we had to do that so it's um
19:42
it was like okay wow you know as as a champion for hampton jr calls he says you know this
19:49
co-entell pro and there's now intel pro you know co-entell pro and now intel pro i i really um
19:58
dominique man i want to really salute you too for your portrayal deborah johnson i'm wondering how
20:03
much um did you actually get from deborah johnson and what i really like about the way you guys wrote
20:11
this role in is my mother was telling me this too, that the Black Panther Party, usually we were
20:17
talking about this earlier, when you see the portrayal is kind of the hyper masculine image
20:21
of black men with the berets and the shotguns and so on and so forth. But that wasn't the real
20:26
representation. Chairman Bobby Seale in 1969 did a survey of the party and found that over 60% of
20:33
the party at that time were women, you know, but in a historical context, they never really get the
20:40
recognition they deserve um how important was that you for you to play her role to the team
20:46
and were you aware of that um i wasn't aware of that there were uh more women than men in the party
20:55
i was more just knowing that i wanted to to serve as a story i prayed to be a vessel every time i
21:02
take a character that the spirit will be able to move through me and so that was a huge responsibility
21:08
In terms of meeting Mama Okua, formerly known as Deborah Johnson, we went to meet the family and we sat around a table for seven hours, over seven hours
21:18
And Chairman Fred Jr. went around and asked us why every single one of us wanted to do this movie
21:24
And then I remember Mama Okua saying that the Panthers were very disciplined and they didn't speak out of turn
21:32
And there were some things in the movie that I say that she would have never said to Chairman Fred
21:36
And she's such a firecracker. So I was trying to figure out how she's saying that she would say even this
21:41
But I learned and I and I experienced to kind of watching Daniel take up space and how much of a leader he is that I come to trust Daniel a lot
21:53
And I feel like he carries some of what I believe chairman had where he allowed people to trust him
22:00
And when you have that kind of trust in people, you don't have to be defensive. You don't have to be on guard
22:05
And so I always say that I feel like I learned to trust Black men in a different way from
22:11
being in this role. And I think Mama Kool is really, we did an interview together and she was like, yes, because
22:17
I mean, there was even one time we went bowling and this white guy took a fry from my plate
22:22
He wasn't a part of us or anything. He just said you remember that Lakeith He says he literally takes a fry from my plate And before my Brooklyn could come out Daniel Lakeith and everybody come around like what are you doing
22:35
And the way, and I felt like it was an out-of-body experience, the way they came around me
22:39
I said, oh, it's nice. Like, I've been trying to lean in my divine feminine where I don't have to be so all the time
22:45
And so it was nice to be able to receive that love and that care, that advocacy
22:50
And I really feel like I learned unconditional love. And so when I speak like that, Mama Okua gets really excited because I feel like the guys, the way they surrounded me is how I feel like she felt
23:04
Let me go at the party. About to mop that fool, Heather. I'm out, yo
23:10
I'm going to get your ass. Yo, that's so funny. Because we are all blessed to wake up and do radio every day and we are on a music platform, Shaka
23:22
I don't know how much did you have to do with this but with the excitement around the film that
23:28
we're all so excited about this is the first time in a long time for me people are excited about the
23:33
soundtrack too like everybody's talking about the music which I think is fly like that's correct did
23:39
you all have something to do with it was this just you how did the soundtrack come about that's Ryan
23:45
and Archie that's Proximity Music so Proximity is Ryan Coogler's production company and
23:52
you know one of the mandates they have is for every movie they make they include a soundtrack
23:57
you could tell he's a child of the 80s 90s you know what that like because that's how we grew
24:02
up it was like automatic you know what i mean yes bob joe's soundtrack is still in rotation you know
24:07
boomerang is still in rotate above the rim still classics on them you know um you know so he he
24:15
he brings and it's a brilliant idea because you know it generates interest in the movie from
24:22
people who might not be interested in the movie and then for people who are interested in the movie it might not be interested in the soundtrack it doesn't has the vice versa effect you know so
24:29
uh he's a genius man you know i'm saying like he's he's a genius like he's a genius he's a
24:35
genius is the artist is a genius is a you know as a business person um and i had all i did was
24:42
get tracks played to me over the phone that's all that's all I had to do with it every now and then
24:46
he'd be like how do you feel about this person being on the outside I'm like yeah bro like sure
24:51
you know what I mean like it's Rakim what are you talking about you bug it yeah okay
24:58
when I was watching there was a random but also not so random name that made my my ear stand up
25:07
which was Aunt Jemima. And I was like, you know what? It's so crazy because now we have
25:12
the new name for this syrup and this pancake, the Pearl Milling Company. And I can't help but ask
25:18
maybe this is for you, Shaka, since you wrote it, like a change like that. Does that matter
25:24
Like how much weight does something have in the way Black people are seen in current American
25:30
history? I mean, the truth of the matter is, is that all things, it all matters from a
25:35
textual standpoint you know what I'm saying like I didn't even know by the way I'm curious as to
25:40
what the new syrup is called you said it's called oh it's called Pearl Milling Company Pearl Milling
25:44
and they it's just like what's on the bottle just says Pearl Milling Company exactly there's no
25:49
images no one melanated is on there got it got it the bottle's not shaped the bottle's shaped like
25:56
the bottle's not shaped like a human being anymore either I guess it's just like that was Mrs
26:00
butterworth oh you're right that's right i know i know i know i knew that but i thought that also
26:08
the bottle shaped like okay how do you know something about syrup that's awesome but i but i do think i do think it all makes a difference just you know
26:17
going through the supermarket and seeing you know images of you know and and and the thing is like
26:24
my family were domestics i have my grandmother was a domestic and that's actually a very respectable
26:29
trade. You know what I'm saying? But it's what goes along with it, you know
26:34
And I so I do think that it all matters. The funny thing is that I didn't write that piece of dialogue
26:40
That actor improvised that. And he's a great actor. You know white actors, they be loving that
26:52
He's actually a close friend of mine since I was like 19. Okay, that's good. That would scare me
26:57
My white actor is improvising at Jamal, but that would kind of scare me
27:04
But I actually cast him because he is not, he acknowledges racism and he's not afraid to just be like, yo, okay
27:14
you need me to do this? I'll do this. This is not a reflection of me
27:17
But you know, you had the stories of like Danny Aiello, not wanting to say on and do the right thing
27:24
and Spike having to like fight him to get to say and do the right thing you know and I can't
27:31
imagine being in that position directing an actor like I need you to you know I need you to be
27:36
authentic in that moment he brought and he did it and that's why it's in the movie because it was
27:40
real it felt real you know those women look those women look back like you know well you know what
27:49
I want to do something. We've never done this. So we got people asking questions
27:55
So I'm going to see if I can. Yeah. Your mind if we do this
28:00
Not at all. Not at all. To Daniel, this is coming from England
28:06
Why do you this is a Jeffrey role, I believe. Why do you think your most successful pieces of work come from acting in American stories
28:15
do you think your upbringing outside the u.s helps you in any way in acting as american characters
28:24
no i don't think my my upbringing outside the u.s helps me playing american characters i don't see
28:30
that as because everyone's in my experience of outside of the u.s is it's different to i don't
28:35
benedict cumberbatch's i'm saying it's like it's a different experience you don't say completely
28:40
and then it's a cool butter like you know what I'm saying so but it's like um but I think it's like
28:45
I just feel I mean there is more space to be black in America
28:54
it's how I feel you know what I'm saying and so if I when I'm here and I'm I'm doing my thing and
29:03
I'm me and I've got the spirit that I have and I'm channeling you know I'm saying I'm not
29:07
necessarily seeing it's like i'm not seeing it it's like this is like these characters i'm inhabiting
29:11
spaces do you know what i'm saying and being a vessel for these things it's just i feel like
29:15
when i'm in uh and also it depends on what is success though you know like what like what is
29:22
i see success as connecting to someone that you want to speak to you know it's like i like so
29:28
there's stuff i've done in england that i would call successful even though like only like 4 000
29:33
people watch the play. You know what I'm saying? It's like, I don't necessarily believe like it achieved what it was meant to
29:39
achieve. You know what I'm saying? And so I've come into the game and I've always done what I'm supposed to
29:43
done. And then like, I was in England and then Jordan shouted me after
29:48
watching a British show, the fact that it reached the American shores is success
29:53
You know what I'm saying? It's like, like I did it in 2011 and then everyone's like watching
29:57
Black Mirror in 2015, 2015. 14. It had a life. I see that as successful
30:03
Do you know what I'm saying? And it's just about extending. And you're just going to, I think everyone just grows
30:10
just grows in a certain way. And you're going to want to stretch what you can do, you know
30:15
And I feel in the American storytelling, you're able to stretch. And that's why Jude Law does American film
30:21
That's why Benedict Cumberbatch does American film. That's why Eddie Redmayne does American film. That's why all these, like anyone, like even the Australians
30:27
everyone because you're just able to stretch and tell these really vast stories because of how
30:34
I feel like um these stories are really shaping the mythology of America you know and mythology
30:40
of the world you know and I just feel like you're going to enter that space and you want to grow in
30:44
that way but not I don't want to like I'm gonna I want to tell stories anywhere you know I don't
30:50
want everyone to tell stories anywhere you know it's like it's why say if Dominique had a there's
30:56
a british character that dominique can play and and it and it's like a rom-com because you know
30:59
she want to be on rom-com you want a little romance i'm saying it's like why would she go into that
31:06
space do you know what i'm saying if if her spirit speaks to that character you know what i'm saying
31:10
it's like that's how i see i see it as we are creators and why we are creating what we're doing
31:17
you know i i like um yeah it all depends on what you just deem as success if i mean if your your
31:23
goal is to reach 10 people and you've done that then that is successful you know how i see it
31:28
okay that's fair enough um laquif this is from kosher kyra i am curiously seeking your thoughts
31:37
on whether you feel we as a society have progressed or regressed in terms of our freedoms
31:42
In terms of our freedom I mean man a tough question for a little old Lakeith
31:55
I think, man, I mean, I guess in some ways we've done both, right
32:00
I mean, if you look through history, it seems that, you know, we've been afforded more freedoms over time
32:06
I'll speak just locally to Black people since such a vast question
32:11
And, you know, yeah, apparently, you know, we've campaigned and broken out of the chains of slavery and gotten to be able to experience physical freedom in a way that we weren't able to do even after slavery
32:23
doing legislations and things like Jim Crow up into the 60s to fight. And in a lot of ways, it still continues
32:29
But it could be argued that psychologically, as a collective, totally, that we might be drawn to things that are more destructive to us in society
32:41
and might align ourselves with those things, even though it isn't a representation of us all
32:47
Generally speaking, it might be said that we've regressed in terms of when I was when I was doing the movie and we were in this scene for, you know
32:58
I'm a revolutionary that when I saw the audience dressed in those clothes and all in one singular thought toward a goal locked in for black people
33:07
that was something that was very beautifully progressive. I thought it was beautiful, and I hadn't seen that in my life
33:15
And being brought back to that moment made me realize that this is what we really are
33:21
beyond the veneer of the destruction that's taking place. But, I mean, it also can be argued that the reason why we may be taking a couple steps back
33:31
generally speaking in terms of how we operate socially It the same reason why we were put in captivity to begin with The campaign has not stopped The way that we wage the war and to break the chains and to find freedom has to adapt and change
33:47
And I do think that it starts from the inside out. And although it may be apparent that we've regressed, I still firmly believe that we're waking up and moving forward
33:59
And that the spirit of that progression can't be stamped out. No matter how much there's an effort to do so
34:07
Wow, that's an amazing answer. Listen, I know we only have so much time
34:13
but let's give them a round of applause, man. Let's give these folks a round of applause for a job well done
34:18
Shaka King, Daniel, I appreciate you. Lakeith, Dominique, thank you for the work that you put forward
34:25
Are you guys going to celebrate? I mean, this is kind of a serious movie
34:29
but I know y'all ain't always so serious. so we're partying yo
34:37
we doing I know it's going to be hey you know you know where Ryan from we from the same place
34:42
we doing something what we doing we got a party on club I mean we got a party
34:46
on clubhouse we hosting a little something you know everybody coming through we got digital
34:50
parties man okay well bring your own bottle though bring your own bottle okay
34:58
cool well congratulations and once again to our citizens that tuned in I know you guys we'll be
35:05
playing pieces of this on the morning show tomorrow so make sure y'all call in
35:09
if you got a chance to be in this amazing conversation I just
35:13
want to thank you guys again and say salute to you job well done
35:17
I think Heather said it best now whenever I see any of your names attached to any
35:21
project I don't care what it is it could be watching paint drying I gonna be there Dominique I owe you a birthday song again in March Okay Yes thank you Who your stylist though
35:33
You've been going crazy. Seriously. Got the little Versace show pants. And now, cut on the shoulders, girl
35:44
Yeah, but Daniel got that golden glove gear on. Look at him. A little Gucci, man
35:50
A little Gucci. you little son. Okay, cool. Jocky, you want to say anything in closing
35:56
Movie comes out tomorrow, February 12th on HBO Max and in theaters
36:03
Hope you enjoy it. That's it, man. Just tune in and watch it again and again and again for that
36:08
month that's on HBO Max because that's what it's for. And lastly, Judas and the Black Messiah
36:15
Who came up with the title? I did. Woof! Great. Nice job
36:23
Should you tell them what the original title was or you ain't trying to talk about it
36:27
I love that. Oh, I like that question. I love the original title
36:31
I can't give you the whole title. I'll give you a piece of the original title
36:36
Jesus Was My Homeboy was the original title. But it was way, but there was like ellipses like dot, dot, dot
36:43
And what came after that was so wild. And like only Lakeith knows the answer to that one
36:49
That's to go to the grave because that'll have us in trouble. Oh, that's going to the grave
36:54
Okay, I was going to dig a little bit. That's in the vault. That's in the vault. That's in the vault
36:59
That's off the record? Yeah. Okay. Judas and the Black Messiah. Man, that's amazing, bro
37:05
Great job. All of you guys, round of applause. And thank you, man
37:09
You guys are all citizens. You're already citizens. Yeah, they sway in the morning, baby
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