Black Is Beautiful: The Inspiring Tale of Revolutionary Visionary Kwame Brathwaite
There have been numerous fascinating documentaries focusing on photographers: Vivian Maier. Perhaps cinematic storytelling particularly shines when presenting exceptionally powerful visual compositions. Now arrives a new exceptional instance, by writer-director Yemi Bamiro, exploring the remarkable professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, musician and civil rights advocate who represented a unique politico-aesthetic perspective.
Together with his brother Elombe, he virtually invented the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” during the mid-century era by photographing the Harlem models in Harlem: youthful Black women who transformed into the transformative template for visual appeal, abandoning conventional grooming practices and the established Caucasian standard of female beauty.
The Impact of Three Words
Black Is Beautiful transformed into a radical rallying cry, an brilliant three-word prose poem for progress. Merely stating that people of color radiated beauty emerged as a empowering influence in culture, activism and creative expression. Brathwaite emerged as integral to the Black power pan-Africanist cause by capturing images of Muhammad Ali leading up to his historic championship fight in the seventies.
He was appointed the official photographer for the Jackson 5's international performances, and later became the house photographer for the legendary Harlem venue, assembling an incredible collection of musical pioneers. Alongside his sibling, he emerged as the driving force behind bringing the anti-apartheid icon to speak in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
Brathwaite's son the younger Brathwaite recounts the personal campaign to achieve proper recognition for his father's legacy after he was painfully excluded in Washington DC's National Museum of African American History and Culture, inaugurated by the political leader in recent years.
The film additionally explores the deeply tragic genesis of the artist's dedication to photography: the horrendous images of Emmett Till, the adolescent African American lynching victim whose mourning family member boldly requested an uncovered casket so the horrific reality of racist violence would not be covered up.
Through Darkness to Hope
Through this vision of tragedy, the artist found a type of anti-epiphany that directed him toward photographs of beauty. His images were eloquent of celebratory strength and often subtle in messaging: he developed a innovative visual language of empowerment through which social causes could mobilize.
This represents an captivating chronicle of cultural impact that continues to empower decades later.
