There have been numerous compelling documentaries about visual artists: Martin Parr. Perhaps the film medium particularly shines when presenting particularly vivid photographs. Today comes another exceptional example, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, documenting the remarkable career of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, musician and African American activist who exemplified a unique cultural-activist approach.
Together with his brother Elombe, he virtually invented the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” during the mid-century era by documenting the African American women in Harlem: young women of color who emerged as the sensational template for aesthetics, rejecting traditional grooming practices and the established Caucasian standard of femininity.
The Impact of Three Words
The iconic phrase transformed into a powerful rallying cry, an inspired memorable prose poem for progress. Simply stating that black people were beautiful proved to be a empowering influence in art, activism and creative expression. Brathwaite grew into integral to the civil rights global Black struggle by documenting Muhammad Ali before his iconic championship fight in 1974.
He was appointed the exclusive visual documentarian for the band's international performances, and subsequently became the house photographer for the historic cultural institution, assembling an incredible archive of African American artists. In collaboration with Elombe, he was the key organizer behind arranging for the anti-apartheid icon to appear in Harlem.
Personal Journey
Brathwaite's son his namesake shares the family's quest to secure due acknowledgment for his family heritage after he was unjustly excluded in the nation's capital's National Museum of African American History and Culture, established by the former president in 2016.
The feature also recounts the inexpressibly painful genesis of Brathwaite's dedication to image making: the horrendous photographs of the lynching martyr, the adolescent civil rights tragic figure whose grieving mother boldly requested an public viewing so the horrific reality of racist violence could not be covered up.
Through Darkness to Hope
Through this representation of horror, Brathwaite discovered a type of profound understanding that guided him toward photographs of beauty. His photographs powerfully conveyed celebratory strength and typically subtle in messaging: he established a fresh symbolic representation of strength upon which activist groups could gather.
It is an captivating record of creative genius that persists in empower across generations.
