Activist Who Protested Police Brutality In Video For Oscar Winner

LONG ISLAND, NY — A man who walked 137 miles from New York City to Montauk in October to protest police brutality was thrilled to the song for a video he acted in won an Oscar at Sunday night's Academy Awards.

Leon Goodman, an actor, entertainment writer and retired MTA employee, is in the music video for H.E.R.'s “Fight for You,” which won Best Original Song for its appearance in "Judas and the Black Messiah." Goodman played the pastor in the video for the song.

"The H.E.R. production team reached out to me in mid-January to offer me the role as the pastor in the Fight for You video. I was truly elated, because a friend had previously introduced me to the song I Can't Breathe, by H.E.R., during my 137-mile silent protest march," Goodman said. "On set, I told H.E.R. how she was such an inspiration to so many people with her music, which is so topical and particularly in tune with today's events."

"Judas and the Black Messiah" is a film about the betrayal by an FBI informant of Fred Hampton, played by Daniel Kaluuya, who also won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Hampton was chair of the Black Panther Party in Chicago in the 1960s.

"Since I was aware of Fred Hampton, his assassination, and the Black Panther Party, I easily related to the song relative to the movie soundtrack," Goodman said. "The producers had previously sent me the script and during the shoot ask me to interpret my understanding of the scene."

Goodman said everyone was "extremely pleased" with his portrayal of the pastor "who was able to successfully navigate his two worlds of ministry and the current societal issues."

He added: "The emotions that I portrayed on screen had to speak for me, without the benefit of dialogue."

The movie and "Fight for You," "made me feel that I was part of something larger and related back to the reasons why I undertook the Silent Protest March against acts of police brutality," Goodman said.

Goodman embarked upon his life-altering journey to send a message about police shootings and express his despair "over the senseless loss of lives mourned by the Black community at the hands of law enforcement."

The walk began October 1, with Goodman covering about 10 to 15 miles per day. Each day, he began at the Long Island Rail Road, taking the train to the stop where he ended the night before, and walking about 10 or more miles to his next stop, before heading back on the train.

Goodman worked for the MTA in New York City for decades. He grew up in segregated Virginia during the 1950s "when beatings, and lynchings were what Black people could expect if they dared to challenge the Jim Crow laws. Black people experienced discrimination at their jobs or when they tried to buy a house or get an education."

And now, he said, Black people must come together to speak out against police brutality. His walk, he said, is "not anti-police," but instead, a message that acts of brutality cannot be ignored and police officers who commit them must face consequences.

The walk now behind him, Goodman said he is proud that now he can share the experience with his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren — and children he has not even yet met.
"It was a journey," he said. "It taught me humility."

The many miles he traversed brought an awareness and appreciation of the world that one can't grasp while driving in a car, he said. "The reason I was walking was I wanted people to be aware of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd from a human perspective, not a hashtag."

Along the way, Goodman met so many who renewed his mission and kept him going, when the miles seemed long: One woman he met told Goodman words that resonate still: "She said, 'Light one candle at a time.' It was so profound. That's what I'm trying to do."