Amanpour and Company

>> SO FRED HAMPTON WAS THE CHAIRMAN, I THINK, OF THE ILLINOIS CHAPTER, OR THE CHICAGO CHAPTER OF THE BLACK PANTHERS, IS THAT CORRECT? >> THE ILLINOIS CHAPTER. >> HOW BIG WAS HE? >> MINDING YOU HE WAS ONLY CHAIRMAN FOR ONE YEAR. IN THAT TIME, NOT ONLY DID HE BECOME A MAJOR FIGURE IN CHICAGO POLITICS, BUT HE, YOU KNOW, WAS BEING PRIMED ESSENTIALLY TO RUN THE PARTY ON A NATIONAL LEVEL. AND I THINK THAT WAS A BIG PART OF THE REASON WHY HE WAS ASSASSINATED. >> I WANT TO PLAY THIS CLIP. IT'S WHEN FRED HAMPTON IS IN THE HALL TALKING TO HIS PEOPLE AND HE'S TALKING ABOUT YOU CAN ATTACK, YOU KNOW, A PERSON BUT NOT THE IDEOLOGY. LET'S JUST LISTEN. >> YOU CAN'T MURDER LIBERATION. YOU CAN MURDER REVOLUTIONARY, BUT YOU CAN'T MURDER REVOLUTION. YOU CAN MURDER A FREEDOM FIGHTER, BUT YOU CAN'T MURDER FREEDOM. >> HEY HEY, A REVOLUTIONARY! HEY HEY, A REVOLUTIONARY! LET ME HEAR THE PEOPLE. >> DOMINIQUE FISHBACK, THAT'S YOU THERE PLAYING DEBORAH JOHNSON. YOU KNOW, YOU'RE EMOTIONAL, YOU'RE WIPING TEARS AWAY. WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU TO PLAY THAT ROLE, AND HOW MUCH OF THE STORY DID YOU KNOW BEFORE -- YOU KNOW, BEFORE YOU WERE CAST? >> YEAH. UNFORTUNATELY GROWING UP IN BROOKLYN AND EAST NEW YORK, WE DIDN'T REALLY LEARN ABOUT THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY. IT WASN'T UNTIL I GOT TO COLLEGE AND I WAS IN A BLACK STUDENT UNION THAT I FIRST HEAR CHAIRMAN FRED'S NAME. SO WHEN I GOT THE EMAIL SHAKA WANTED ME TO PLAY DEBORAH JOHNSON, I KNEW FRED WAS ASSASSINATED AT 21 YEARS OLD. I KNEW THAT HIS PREGNANT FIANCEE WAS IN THE BED WITH HIM BUT I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE RAINBOW COALITION AND ALL OF THE THINGS THAT HE DID FOR CHICAGO. SO THAT'S KIND OF HOW I INITIALLY STARTED. I WAS READING A BOOK CALLED "THE TASTE OF POWER" BY ELAINE BROWN WHO WAS A PANTHER IN THE OAKLAND CHAPTER. AND HOW I GOT INTO THE CHARACTER, JUST JOURNALING, LISTENING TO DEBORAH JOHNSON, HER INSIGHT AND CHAIRMAN FRED JUNIOR'S INSIGHT.