History has seen countless fascinating documentaries highlighting visual artists: Martin Parr. Perhaps the film medium naturally comes alive when presenting exceptionally powerful still images. Now arrives a new remarkable example, directed by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, exploring the extraordinary career of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, performer and social justice champion who embodied a special cultural-activist perspective.
Alongside his sibling Elombe, he virtually invented the expression “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by photographing the African American women in the cultural epicenter: youthful Black women who became the transformative archetype for beauty, abandoning conventional grooming practices and the usual Caucasian standard of femininity.
The Influence of a Revolutionary Slogan
Black Is Beautiful evolved into a radical unifying message, an visionary three-word declaration for change. Just declaring that African Americans were beautiful became a empowering influence in society, social movements and creative expression. Brathwaite emerged as part of the Black power African diaspora cause by capturing images of the sports icon before his iconic championship fight in 1974.
He became the exclusive image creator for the musical group's African tour, and later became the resident artist for the legendary cultural institution, assembling an extraordinary portfolio of musical pioneers. Together with his brother, he became the central figure behind arranging for Nelson Mandela to address the public in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite recounts the family's campaign to achieve due acknowledgment for his parent's achievements after he was painfully overlooked in the nation's capital's cultural museum, opened by the former president in recent years.
This documentary also recounts the inexpressibly painful genesis of the artist's interest in image making: the horrendous pictures of the lynching martyr, the adolescent Black lynching victim whose bereaved parent boldly insisted on an uncovered casket so the horrific reality of racist violence might not be concealed.
Amidst Sorrow to Hope
Through this vision of horror, Brathwaite encountered a kind of anti-epiphany that led him toward images of beauty. His photographs were eloquent of celebratory strength and frequently subtle in messaging: he established a innovative symbolic representation of strength through which social causes could unite.
It is an inspiring record of creative genius that persists in resonate across generations.
