We have witnessed many compelling features focusing on visual artists: Tish Murtha. Perhaps the film medium naturally comes alive when displaying exceptionally powerful photographs. Here arrives one more outstanding example, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the extraordinary life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, performer and civil rights advocate who embodied a unique cultural-activist perspective.
Alongside his brother Elombe, he pioneered the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” during the mid-century era by documenting the Grandassa Models in Harlem: young women of color who became the transformative standard for visual appeal, moving beyond traditional cosmetic products and the predominant Eurocentric ideal of womanhood.
The Power of Three Words
Black Is Beautiful transformed into a transformative unifying message, an visionary concise prose poem for transformation. Merely stating that black people radiated beauty emerged as a liberating force in art, social movements and creative expression. Brathwaite grew into a key figure in the social justice global Black movement by photographing the sports icon leading up to his historic Zaire bout in the seventies.
He became the official photographer for the Jackson 5's African tour, and subsequently was named the house photographer for the historic cultural institution, building an extraordinary collection of African American artists. Alongside his sibling, he emerged as the driving force behind arranging for the South African leader to appear in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite recounts the family's quest to achieve due acknowledgment for his family heritage after he was painfully overlooked in the prestigious Smithsonian institution, opened by the political leader in 2016.
The film further reveals the deeply tragic genesis of Brathwaite's passion for visual storytelling: the disturbing images of the lynching martyr, the teenage Black murder victim whose grieving mother defiantly demanded an uncovered casket so the violent nature of racial hatred would not be concealed.
Amidst Sorrow to Hope
Through this representation of tragedy, the artist found a type of profound understanding that guided him toward visual representations of community. His photographs beautifully expressed community pride and frequently subtle in messaging: he established a innovative symbolic representation of empowerment through which activist groups could unite.
It is an exhilarating testament of creative genius that continues to inspire across generations.
