We have witnessed numerous compelling films about image makers: Martin Parr. Perhaps the documentary format truly excels when showcasing particularly vivid photographs. Here arrives another exceptional case, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, documenting the remarkable professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, performer and African American activist who embodied a distinct politico-aesthetic perspective.
Alongside his family member Elombe, he virtually invented the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” during the 1960s by capturing the Grandassa Models in Harlem: young African American women who became the groundbreaking archetype for beauty, rejecting traditional beauty standards and the predominant Caucasian ideal of womanhood.
The Influence of a Revolutionary Slogan
Black Is Beautiful transformed into a transformative call to action, an visionary three-word prose poem for transformation. Simply stating that African Americans were beautiful became a transformative influence in culture, activism and creative expression. The photographer grew into a key figure in the civil rights global Black cause by documenting the legendary boxer before his iconic championship fight in 1974.
He served as the official visual documentarian for the band's international performances, and subsequently was named the resident artist for the legendary Apollo theatre, assembling an extraordinary portfolio of black musicians. Together with his sibling, he became the key organizer behind bringing Nelson Mandela to address the public in New York.
Historical Recognition
Brathwaite's son Kwame Jr shares the personal mission to achieve proper recognition for his parent's achievements after he was painfully overlooked in Washington DC's National Museum of African American History and Culture, inaugurated by the former president in this century.
The feature further reveals the deeply tragic origin of the artist's interest in visual storytelling: the horrendous pictures of the lynching martyr, the young African American lynching victim whose grieving mother boldly requested an public viewing so the brutal truth of racial hatred might not be hidden.
Amidst Sorrow to Hope
In this vision of horror, the artist encountered a type of transformative realization that led him toward images of beauty. His images beautifully expressed empowering beauty and typically subtle in messaging: he established a innovative visual language of strength around which social causes could mobilize.
The documentary stands as an exhilarating chronicle of creative genius that continues to resonate decades later.
