H.E.R. - Fight For You
Our story begins in the 1970s.
We open on the image of a school-aged Black boy posting flyers for an upcoming Black Panther meeting. From off-screen, we hear a burst of whining sirens. A police cruiser pulls to the curb and two officers exit. The older of the pair is pig-faced, thin-lipped, and fat. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing kid? Come here!” The younger Cop sticks close to his side, backing up his partner's every move.
The boy takes off in a sprint turning down a nearby side street. A messenger bag beats against the boy’s hip as he b-lines for a nearby alleyway. In a reverse shot we reveal the cops in pursuit. One of them levels a snub-nosed revolver at the boy and lets off a shot. The boy's messenger bag explodes, releasing a flurry of Black Panther posters, as well as pencils, pens, and chess pieces. The boy keeps running, sprinting forward with the raw will to survive motivating each step. In a seamless transition we match cut to the exact same scene, now set in the modern era. The boy's wardrobe and styling have changed, as have the cops', but the action remains the exact same. Just as the boy is about to turn the corner another shot rings out. Hot buckshot burls into his back, lifting him off his feet.
At this moment an unknowable act of magic occurs. As the boy is carried through the air his body breaks apart into a flock of doves, snowy feathered and free. The doves then disperse and escape over the roofs of the surrounding mausoleum of urban sprawl.
From here we cut to a woman in front of a window sewing a Black American flag. We shoot her from behind, her work is masterful and quick. She hasn’t taken a break in a long time.
Our next shot is of the doves roosting on the roof of an inner-city boot store. Camera tilts down to reveal H.E.R., glowing in the light of the early afternoon. From behind we follow H.E.R. as she enters the store, where we find her father, the bootmaker, a sturdy and kind man in his 60’s and longtime bootmaker for the Black Panthers. He greets his daughter with a fully packed and packaged carrying bag of handmade shoes. H.E.R. and Dad exchange some naturalistic dialogue as our camera follows them around his shop. He asks her to make a few deliveries around the city for him, and then hands off the bag. On the walls of the shop, we see framed photos of prominent Panthers, as well as prized items in cases, like the boots of the freedom riders and a traditional African spear. We also reveal the bootmaker's apprentice, who watches the handoff with a subdued supercilious glare.
H.E.R., with carrier bag in hand, heads back out into the city. The first stop is a small church at the edge of town. A tall elderly pastor, clad in black robes and wearing a youthful smile makes his way out to greet H.E.R. He bows his head in thanks as he accepts the shoes. We then cut inside the pastor’s office, where Judas and the Black Messiah is playing on a TV behind him. The pastor opens the shoe box and marvels at the exquisite craftsmanship before him. He then examines the sole of the shoe, where gold ink on the black rubber sole reads: “I AM A REVOLUTIONARY”.
H.E.R. now makes her way to an apartment building. A few familiar faces are perched out on the stoop and greet H.E.R. warmly as she passes by, one might even crack a joke that she can’t help but smile and roll her eyes at. Inside the building she walks into a warmly lit and lavishly appointed apartment and finds a few older women in the kitchen, laughing, drinking, and cooking.
We then cut to footage of a rifle range, where these same women, dressed in the iconic Black Panther uniform, are cracking off shots at plywood stand-ins of Klan Members. An instructor subtly guides their posture and hand positioning, nodding her head as bullets blast through the lacquered laminate. Back in the apartment, H.E.R. hands off a few pairs of shoes as they fuss around her, begging her to stay for dinner. H.E.R. gives them a raincheck, and as she closes the door behind her, we reveal those same rifles from before, cleaned, oiled, and hung at the ready.
As H.E.R. exits the building and walks down the street a 77’ Lincoln continental convertible pulls up beside her. Inside are a few of H.E.R.’s friends from around the neighborhood, who call out to her and turn up the radio as they approach. The track falls away in this moment, and the instrumental of the song booms out over the radio. H.E.R. takes this moment to sing Fight For You acapella, as her friends cheer on from inside the car.
H.E.R. continues on, now walking into a local bookstore. We cut to footage of a Panther teaching history and philosophy to a group of spellbound students. He’s emphatic with his lecture, and effortlessly commands the attention of every kid in the class. Back inside the bookstore, we reveal that teacher is now the store’s elderly owner and is doing a one-on-one tutoring session with his grandson. H.E.R. hands off the shoes and he repays her with a heavily used book on critical race theory that he insists she take with her.
H.E.R. finally returns back to the store where a few of her dad’s friends are sitting outside talking. She hands off the last shoebox and they thank her and motion her back into the store, her dad’s been waiting for her. H.E.R. walks past them, wiping the camera, and we see her father's friends have been transformed back to Panthers in their prime. H.E.R. goes inside and opens the door to the back room, where a small gathering of Black Panthers her father included are hanging out, all wearing their iconic uniforms. Small memorials to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and other civil rights heroes adorn the space. A large retro TV plays clips from Judas and The Black Messiah as people smoke and pour over plans. H.E.R. joins the group, but just as she does so, the bootmaker’s apprentice slinks out the back door.
Behind the shop, the retreating apprentice finds a payphone and dials 911. The camera is close to his mouth as he whispers down the receiver, his hand adorned with three silver rings (for added Judas Imagery). In a sweeping camera move, we transition to the modern-day. Our snitch is now wearing contemporary clothes and accessories.
Suddenly the back door of the shop is smashed down by a battering ram. SWAT in riot gear swarm into the back room, bullets rip through the walls as people are seized and assaulted. In a cutaway we see the snitch apprentice talking to an officer outside the store. The officer is much older now, but we recognize him as the same officer from the opening scene. Back inside an armored officer knocks H.E.R.’s father to the ground, pressing a shotgun to his face. H.E.R.’s father is then transformed back into the boy from the beginning, the boy who was able to escape his pursuers.
We end on a drone shot of the store as it’s swarmed by cop cars and paddy wagons. On the store's roof, we can make out the figure of an old woman who waves a Black American Flag. A flock of doves flies past her, crossing camera, and we follow them as they escape into the painterly clouds of sunset.
