History has seen countless compelling documentaries about image makers: Vivian Maier. It could be cinematic storytelling particularly shines when presenting exceptionally powerful visual compositions. Here arrives another remarkable instance, by creator Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the extraordinary career of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, artist and African American activist who exemplified a distinct cultural-activist approach.
Together with his sibling Elombe, he virtually invented the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” in the 1960s by capturing the African American women in Harlem: young women of color who transformed into the sensational archetype for beauty, moving beyond typical beauty standards and the established white model of female beauty.
The Power of a Simple Phrase
Black Is Beautiful became a powerful unifying message, an inspired concise declaration for progress. Merely stating that people of color were beautiful became a empowering influence in art, social movements and culture. The artist emerged as part of the Black power pan-Africanist movement by capturing images of the legendary boxer leading up to his iconic Rumble in the Jungle in that era.
He became the official visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's continental journey, and subsequently was named the house photographer for the iconic Harlem venue, creating an incredible collection of musical pioneers. In collaboration with his sibling, he emerged as the driving force behind bringing the South African leader to speak in New York.
Historical Recognition
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite recounts the family's quest to achieve proper recognition for his father's legacy after he was unjustly excluded in Washington DC's Smithsonian institution, opened by the political leader in this century.
The film additionally explores the profoundly sorrowful origin of the artist's passion for photography: the disturbing images of the young victim, the adolescent Black lynching victim whose mourning family member defiantly insisted on an open coffin so the brutal truth of bigoted brutality could not be covered up.
Through Darkness to Beauty
Through this image of horror, Brathwaite discovered a form of transformative realization that guided him toward visual representations of beauty. His photographs beautifully expressed community pride and typically subtle in messaging: he curated a innovative symbolic representation of pride through which social causes could mobilize.
This represents an exhilarating record of creative genius that still empower across generations.
