Going into Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah, all I knew was that the film depicted Fred Hampton’s murder, and how William O’Neal’s deception played a part in that. I knew that Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield were playing Hampton and O’Neal, respectively… and that was about it. Part of it was that, at the time (late December 2020, no flex), there was a purposeful hold on new information regarding this film. I didn’t realize that Young Black Hollywood was all over this film. I certainly wasn’t ready for the smile that adorned my face when Dominique Fishback was cast as Deborah Johnson, Chairman Fred’s girlfriend and the mother of his son, Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.