We have witnessed countless fascinating documentaries focusing on photographers: Vivian Maier. Maybe cinematic storytelling particularly shines when showcasing particularly vivid still images. Today we have another exceptional example, by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, documenting the extraordinary professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, musician and social justice champion who embodied a special artistic-political vision.
In partnership with his sibling Elombe, he virtually invented the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by capturing the African American women in Harlem: youthful women of color who became the transformative archetype for visual appeal, rejecting traditional grooming practices and the predominant Eurocentric ideal of womanhood.
The Power of Three Words
This powerful statement became a transformative call to action, an inspired three-word manifesto for progress. Merely stating that African Americans were beautiful proved to be a liberating power in art, politics and culture. The photographer emerged as a key figure in the Black power pan-Africanist struggle by photographing the legendary boxer prior to his legendary Zaire bout in 1974.
He was appointed the primary image creator for the Jackson 5's African tour, and eventually became the resident artist for the legendary Apollo theatre, building an incredible collection of African American artists. In collaboration with his sibling, he was the driving force behind securing the anti-apartheid icon to appear in Harlem.
Family Legacy
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite recounts the personal quest to achieve due acknowledgment for his father's legacy after he was hurtfully ignored in Washington DC's National Museum of African American History and Culture, opened by Barack Obama in recent years.
The feature also recounts the inexpressibly painful origin of the photographer's interest in visual storytelling: the shocking pictures of Emmett Till, the adolescent Black murder victim whose grieving mother defiantly requested an uncovered casket so the violent nature of bigoted brutality might not be covered up.
Through Darkness to Empowerment
In this vision of horror, Brathwaite found a type of anti-epiphany that led him toward images of community. His images were eloquent of empowering beauty and frequently nuanced in approach: he developed a innovative symbolic representation of strength around which political movements could unite.
This represents an inspiring testament of creative genius that persists in inspire through the years.
