Local 706 - The Artisan

40 • THE ARTISAN SPRING 2021 JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH MAKE-UP DESIGN AND INTENTIONS B Y S I Â N R I C H A R D S DEPARTMENT HEAD MAKEUP Every so often an important fi lm is in the works— Judas and the Black Messiah was one of those. There have rarely been times in my career when I wanted to design a movie so much that I put my name in the hat directly, but the story of Fred Hampton, the assas- sinated 21-year-old Chairman of the Chicago Black Panther Party in 1969, provoked me to do just that. I was so grateful they wanted me for the make-up job. I didn't read the script fi rst, as it would have just been another story, but from the moment I spoke with our director Shaka King, I went on an intense study of American history and the civil rights movement. I spent four weeks, 10-14 hours a day feverishly reading everything I could lay my eyes on or listen to, scouring the internet, reading rare archives of Black and white news reports, seeing the imbalance of truth. I read multiple books by African American philosophers and activists, spoke to people who were actually there, learned the importance of Black women in American history; and stuff that tore my heart out and had me weeping, understanding the pain of so many mothers. I myself, the mother of a son defi ned by his color in the USA, have experienced racism fi rsthand; so, I wanted to make sure this was not just another script, but was delivered with rever- ence and a complete understanding of the facts.

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