There have been numerous engaging films focusing on visual artists: Tish Murtha. It could be cinematic storytelling naturally comes alive when showcasing exceptionally powerful still images. Here we have a new exceptional instance, by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, musician and African American activist who represented a distinct politico-aesthetic perspective.
Together with his family member Elombe, he pioneered the expression “Black Is Beautiful” during the sixties by capturing the Harlem models in New York: emerging Black women who emerged as the transformative archetype for aesthetics, rejecting typical beauty standards and the established Caucasian standard of female beauty.
The Influence of a Simple Phrase
Black Is Beautiful transformed into a transformative unifying message, an inspired concise prose poem for change. Just declaring that people of color were beautiful emerged as a liberating influence in society, social movements and creative expression. The photographer became integral to the Black power pan-Africanist struggle by photographing the sports icon prior to his historic Rumble in the Jungle in the seventies.
He served as the primary photographer for the Jackson 5's African tour, and subsequently became the official visual chronicler for the legendary cultural institution, creating an extraordinary portfolio of musical pioneers. In collaboration with his brother, he became the key organizer behind bringing the South African leader to address the public in New York.
Personal Journey
The photographer's offspring Kwame Jr shares the family's campaign to ensure due acknowledgment for his parent's achievements after he was unjustly overlooked in the nation's capital's National Museum of African American History and Culture, inaugurated by the political leader in this century.
This documentary additionally explores the inexpressibly painful inspiration of the artist's interest in image making: the horrendous pictures of the young victim, the adolescent African American tragic figure whose grieving mother defiantly demanded an open coffin so the horrific reality of racist violence might not be hidden.
Amidst Sorrow to Beauty
From this image of tragedy, Brathwaite encountered a type of profound understanding that guided him toward visual representations of community. His work beautifully expressed celebratory strength and typically not overtly political: he curated a new visual language of empowerment upon which political movements could unite.
It is an captivating chronicle of artistic vision that continues to resonate across generations.
