The FBI's War on Black America (1990)

The FBI's War on Black America

1990

Synopsis

Through a secret program called the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), there was a concerted effort to subvert the will of the people to avoid the rise "of a Black Messiah" that would mobilize the African-American community into a meaningful political force. This documentary establishes historical perspective on the measures initiated by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI which aimed to discredit black political figures and forces of the late 1960's and early 1970's. Combining declassified documents, interviews, rare footage and exhaustive research, it investigates the government's role in the assassinations of Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, and Martin Luther King Jr. Were the murders the result of this concerted effort to avoid "a Black Messiah"?

Credits

Director

Deb Ellis

Denis Mueller

Cast

Bobby Rush as Self

Eldridge Cleaver as Self (archive footage)

Fred Hampton as Self (archive footage)

Geronimo Pratt as Self

H. Rap Brown as Self

Huey P. Newton as Self (archive footage)

Kathleen Cleaver as Self