Black United Students held a screening of “Judas and the Black Messiah” Friday in Oscar Ritchie Hall to reflect on the impacts of the Black Panther Party on the civil rights movement showing the challenges Black people faced.

Ebone Jones, the graduate assistant for the Center of Pan-African Culture, said BUS chose to show “Judas and the Black Messiah” as a part of the Black History Month events.

“[The film] really expresses the Black plight in a few different ways,” Jones said. 

Since the film focuses on the Black plight, the various struggles Black individuals face, Jones said this was most likely one of the reasons Dimaya Mayfield, a sophomore Africana studies major and director of student affairs, chose to have the film screened.

“Judas and the Black Messiah” follows Bill O’Neal, played by LaKeith Stanfield, who was an FBI agent infiltrating the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gain further information on Fred Hampton, played by Daniel Kaluuya, who was a chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party.

The Center for Pan-African Culture began hosting movie screens pertaining to representation of people of color on Feb. 2 when they showed the documentary “13th,” Jones said.

Next week there will not be a screening; however, on March 1 there will be a double feature screening of “Black Panther” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Other future screenings include “Hidden Figures,” “Just Mercy” and “In the Heights.”

Jones said past screenings like “13th” and “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty” did not have a big turnout. However, attracting a big audience is not the reason they are hosting these screenings.

“I’m doing this so people have something to do on a Friday night, not expecting a large crowd of people to come every night,” she said.

From these screenings, Jones said she hopes people are better able to understand how people of color are people and how multifaceted they are.

“That [people of color] aren’t just this monolith of thugs and criminals because we aren’t,” she said. “We’re creative, we’re fun, we’re loving, we’re caring and there are a lot of movies that display all of that.”

Attendees like Toby Gbloguidi, a freshman architectural studies major and member of the student relations committee, said the movie can relate to events currently occurring in the world.

“The message, like the struggles of Black people, can relate to different people across the world especially now,” Gbloguidi said.

Gbloguidi talked about how social media can cause people to have difficulties in understanding each side in an ongoing conflict.

“With social media everything is being shared out and people are having trouble trying to figure out how to fill in a side or situation,” he said. 

The idea of Black history still being relevant and applicable to current events is another reason the movie is important to watch, Gbloguidi said.

“It’s good to show this movie to show this raw emotion of Black struggle in history and see how this relates to people now,” he said. 

Jones said future screenings will be held in Oscar Ritchie Hall and are open to anyone who wants to attend.

“The movies are kind of late screenings so if it’s a late Friday night and you don’t know what to do, come and hang with us,” she said.

Adriana Gasiewski is a beat reporter. Contact her at [email protected].