The Oscar-nominated Lucas Brothers, co-writers of best picture nominee “Judas and the Black Messiah,” have received a special honor on the way to their first Academy Awards.
Newark’s Keith and Kenny Lucas accepted the Paul Selvin Award at the Writers Guild Awards Sunday.
The twin brothers, who spoke with NJ Advance Media about their Newark roots and career last month before Oscar nominations were announced March 15, received the guild honor alongside “Judas and the Black Messiah” co-writers Shaka King, who is the film’s director, and Will Berson.
The four writers were also nominated at the WGA Awards for best original screenplay (Emerald Fennell won for “Promising Young Woman”).
The Writers Guild of America West gives the Selvin award, named for the longtime general counsel for WGA West, to writers whose script “best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties that are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere.”
“Judas and the Black Messiah,” which is up for six Oscars, is about Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, who was fatally shot by police during a raid at his home in 1969.
The film, which stars Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton — he won a Golden Globe and received an Oscar nomination for the performance — also depicts FBI informant William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield, also nominated for an Oscar), who rose to the rank of security chief in the Panthers and gave police information they used to plan the raid of Hampton’s home.
King and Berson are credited as writers of the screenplay and Berson, King and the Lucas Brothers are credited as writers of the story. All are nominated for the Oscar for best original screenplay.
Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton in "Judas and the Black Messiah."Warner Bros. Pictures
Jelani Cobb, a New Yorker writer, Columbia University journalism professor author, presented the WGA award at a virtual ceremony, calling the film “a character study of two very different men, a morality tale, a history lesson and a shocking indictment of what can happen when a government makes it their goal to suppress the voice of its people.”
Montclair and Freehold’s own Kal Penn hosted the socially distanced WGA Awards.
“It’s important that we as writers recognize our power and exercise it,” said Keith Lucas, 35, accepting the award with Kenny, King and Berson. “Even and expressly when it may imperil us to do so.”
Hampton’s son, Fred Hampton Jr., chairman of the Black Panther Party Cubs, and Fred’s mother Akua Njeri, Hampton’s fiancee at time of his death (formerly named Deborah Johnson), consulted on the film.
“On a personal note, we want to thank Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. and Mama Akua for keeping us honest, for allowing us to invite ourselves into your lives and for entrusting us with the handling of this incredibly important legacy,” Kenny Lucas said.
The Lucas Brothers recently highlighted the significance of their Oscar nomination for best original screenplay on Instagram, noting they are two of just seven Black writers (including King) nominated for best original screenplay in the history of the awards show. They also pointed out that their film is the first best picture nominee with all Black producers and that
the movie is responsible for the most Black nominees — 10 — from a single film.
The Lucases started their entertainment careers as stand-up comedians.
“Before our nomination, only 6 comedians have ever been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay,” they said in another Instagram post. “As stand-up comedians, joining this list is a huge accomplishment (and honor) for us.”
The brothers, who have a 2017 Netflix comedy special — “Lucas Bros: On Drugs” — worked as comedy writers and took on roles in TV (”Lucas Bros. Moving Co,” “Friends of the People”) and film (”22 Jump Street”) before they became known for penning the 1960s drama.
The Lucas Brothers have several other film projects in the works, including a Judd Apatow-produced comedy based on their Newark upbringing and a reboot of “Revenge of the Nerds.”
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.
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