History has seen numerous compelling documentaries about visual artists: Vivian Maier. Maybe cinematic storytelling naturally comes alive when displaying particularly vivid visual compositions. Today comes another outstanding example, directed by creator Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the extraordinary life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, artist and civil rights advocate who represented a special cultural-activist approach.
In partnership with his family member Elombe, he effectively created the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” in the sixties by documenting the Harlem models in New York: youthful Black women who transformed into the transformative template for beauty, abandoning traditional grooming practices and the usual white model of female beauty.
The Influence of a Revolutionary Slogan
This powerful statement transformed into a powerful call to action, an inspired three-word manifesto for transformation. Merely to assert that African Americans were beautiful proved to be a transformative force in culture, politics and creative expression. Brathwaite became part of the civil rights pan-Africanist struggle by photographing Muhammad Ali before his legendary Zaire bout in the seventies.
He became the official visual documentarian for the band's African tour, and eventually became the official visual chronicler for the historic cultural institution, building an incredible collection of black musicians. In collaboration with his brother, he emerged as the driving force behind bringing the anti-apartheid icon to address the public in Harlem.
Personal Journey
Brathwaite's son the younger Brathwaite shares the their mission to achieve due acknowledgment for his family heritage after he was painfully ignored in the prestigious Smithsonian institution, opened by Barack Obama in 2016.
The film additionally explores the deeply tragic origin of the artist's interest in photography: the disturbing pictures of the young victim, the teenage Black tragic figure whose bereaved parent boldly insisted on an public viewing so the brutal truth of racist violence would not be concealed.
From Tragedy to Hope
Through this representation of tragedy, Brathwaite encountered a type of profound understanding that led him toward photographs of beauty. His photographs were eloquent of empowering beauty and typically subtle in messaging: he developed a innovative symbolic representation of empowerment upon which political movements could gather.
This represents an exhilarating record of cultural impact that still empower through the years.
