There have been many compelling films focusing on visual artists: Tish Murtha. It could be the film medium truly excels when showcasing particularly vivid visual compositions. Here we have a new outstanding instance, from filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, documenting the extraordinary professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, performer and social justice champion who embodied a special cultural-activist perspective.
Together with his brother Elombe, he pioneered the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by capturing the Harlem models in New York: youthful Black women who became the sensational template for beauty, abandoning conventional cosmetic products and the predominant Eurocentric standard of femininity.
The Power of Three Words
Black Is Beautiful transformed into a transformative rallying cry, an visionary three-word manifesto for change. Just to assert that people of color were beautiful emerged as a transformative influence in art, activism and the arts. The artist grew into part of the Black power pan-Africanist movement by capturing images of the legendary boxer leading up to his legendary Zaire bout in 1974.
He was appointed the primary photographer for the band's African tour, and subsequently was named the official visual chronicler for the historic Apollo theatre, building an amazing collection of musical pioneers. Together with his sibling, he became the key organizer behind securing Nelson Mandela to appear in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
Brathwaite's son his namesake shares the their quest to achieve appropriate credit for his family heritage after he was painfully ignored in the nation's capital's Smithsonian institution, opened by the former president in recent years.
The feature also recounts the inexpressibly painful origin of the photographer's interest in visual storytelling: the horrendous pictures of the young victim, the young Black lynching victim whose mourning family member defiantly requested an public viewing so the violent nature of racist violence could not be concealed.
From Tragedy to Beauty
Through this image of horror, the artist discovered a form of anti-epiphany that guided him toward visual representations of beauty. His work were eloquent of empowering beauty and typically not overtly political: he established a new symbolic representation of strength through which activist groups could mobilize.
The documentary stands as an captivating record of cultural impact that persists in empower across generations.
