The FBI's War on Black America

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"?

Directed by Deb Ellis, Denis Mueller

Images

Cast

H. Rap Brown

Self

Kwame Ture

Self

Eldridge Cleaver

Self (archive footage)

Kathleen Cleaver

Self

Fred Hampton

Self (archive footage)

Malcolm X

Self (archive footage)

Huey P. Newton

Self (archive footage)

Geronimo Pratt

Self

Bobby Rush

Self

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