We have witnessed numerous fascinating films about visual artists: Martin Parr. Maybe the film medium naturally comes alive when presenting remarkably striking still images. Now arrives another outstanding example, by writer-director Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the impressive life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, artist and social justice champion who represented a special politico-aesthetic approach.
In partnership with his family member Elombe, he pioneered the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the sixties by capturing the Harlem models in the cultural epicenter: youthful Black women who emerged as the transformative standard for visual appeal, abandoning traditional cosmetic products and the predominant white standard of femininity.
The Power of Three Words
The iconic phrase transformed into a powerful unifying message, an inspired memorable declaration for transformation. Simply to assert that people of color radiated beauty proved to be a liberating force in art, activism and creative expression. The photographer grew into integral to the civil rights pan-Africanist struggle by documenting Muhammad Ali leading up to his iconic championship fight in that era.
He was appointed the primary visual documentarian for the musical group's continental journey, and later assumed the role of the house photographer for the iconic Harlem venue, creating an amazing archive of black musicians. Alongside Elombe, he was the central figure behind arranging for the anti-apartheid icon to speak in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
Brathwaite's son Kwame Jr shares the personal campaign to secure due acknowledgment for his father's legacy after he was painfully ignored in Washington DC's cultural museum, opened by the former president in recent years.
This documentary also recounts the inexpressibly painful genesis of Brathwaite's interest in photography: the horrendous pictures of the lynching martyr, the young Black lynching victim whose bereaved parent defiantly demanded an uncovered casket so the horrific reality of bigoted brutality could not be concealed.
From Tragedy to Hope
In this image of violence, Brathwaite encountered a form of transformative realization that directed him toward photographs of beauty. His images were eloquent of celebratory strength and typically not overtly political: he established a new visual language of strength upon which activist groups could mobilize.
It is an exhilarating chronicle of cultural impact that persists in inspire through the years.
