We have witnessed many fascinating films highlighting visual artists: Vivian Maier. Perhaps cinematic storytelling truly excels when showcasing particularly vivid visual compositions. Now we have one more remarkable instance, by creator Yemi Bamiro, documenting the extraordinary life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, performer and civil rights advocate who represented a distinct politico-aesthetic approach.
In partnership with his sibling Elombe, he virtually invented the expression “Black Is Beautiful” in the sixties by documenting the African American women in Harlem: emerging Black women who became the sensational archetype for beauty, abandoning typical grooming practices and the usual Caucasian ideal of female beauty.
The Power of Three Words
This powerful statement transformed into a radical rallying cry, an brilliant concise prose poem for change. Merely declaring that people of color radiated beauty proved to be a empowering force in culture, activism and the arts. Brathwaite became part of the civil rights global Black movement by capturing images of Muhammad Ali before his iconic Rumble in the Jungle in that era.
He became the primary photographer for the band's African tour, and later became the official visual chronicler for the historic Harlem venue, creating an extraordinary portfolio of musical pioneers. Together with his sibling, he was the key organizer behind bringing the South African leader to appear in the community.
Personal Journey
His son his namesake is interviewed the personal quest to ensure due acknowledgment for his parent's achievements after he was painfully ignored in Washington DC's cultural museum, opened by Barack Obama in this century.
The feature further reveals the profoundly sorrowful origin of Brathwaite's dedication to photography: the horrendous images of the lynching martyr, the adolescent Black tragic figure whose bereaved parent courageously insisted on an uncovered casket so the violent nature of bigoted brutality might not be hidden.
Amidst Sorrow to Hope
From this representation of violence, Brathwaite discovered a kind of profound understanding that directed him toward images of beauty. His photographs were eloquent of empowering beauty and typically subtle in messaging: he curated a fresh symbolic representation of empowerment through which activist groups could gather.
It is an captivating testament of creative genius that persists in inspire across generations.
