We have witnessed many compelling films focusing on visual artists: Martin Parr. Perhaps the documentary format particularly shines when showcasing exceptionally powerful still images. Today comes one more exceptional instance, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, documenting the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, performer and civil rights advocate who embodied a unique politico-aesthetic vision.
Alongside his brother Elombe, he pioneered the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by capturing the African American women in Harlem: young women of color who transformed into the transformative template for beauty, rejecting typical cosmetic products and the usual Eurocentric standard of womanhood.
The Influence of a Revolutionary Slogan
This powerful statement became a powerful rallying cry, an inspired concise prose poem for progress. Merely declaring that African Americans possessed beauty proved to be a transformative power in art, activism and creative expression. Brathwaite became integral to the social justice global Black struggle by documenting the legendary boxer before his legendary Rumble in the Jungle in the seventies.
He served as the primary visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's continental journey, and subsequently was named the official visual chronicler for the historic Harlem venue, creating an amazing archive of African American artists. Together with his brother, he was the driving force behind arranging for the anti-apartheid icon to address the public in the community.
Historical Recognition
His son Kwame Jr is interviewed the family's mission to achieve due acknowledgment for his family heritage after he was painfully overlooked in the prestigious cultural museum, opened by the political leader in 2016.
This documentary additionally explores the inexpressibly painful genesis of Brathwaite's dedication to photography: the horrendous photographs of the lynching martyr, the teenage Black lynching victim whose bereaved parent defiantly requested an open coffin so the violent nature of bigoted brutality would not be covered up.
Through Darkness to Beauty
In this representation of tragedy, Brathwaite encountered a kind of transformative realization that led him toward images of aspiration. His photographs were eloquent of community pride and often not overtly political: he established a fresh symbolic representation of empowerment through which activist groups could mobilize.
It is an inspiring testament of cultural impact that continues to empower across generations.
