There have been countless engaging features highlighting visual artists: Vivian Maier. Perhaps the documentary format particularly shines when showcasing remarkably striking photographs. Now comes another outstanding case, directed by creator Yemi Bamiro, exploring the extraordinary professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, artist and social justice champion who embodied a unique politico-aesthetic vision.
Alongside his sibling Elombe, he virtually invented the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by photographing the Harlem models in New York: young Black women who transformed into the sensational standard for aesthetics, moving beyond typical grooming practices and the predominant Eurocentric standard of femininity.
The Power of a Revolutionary Slogan
This powerful statement transformed into a powerful call to action, an brilliant concise declaration for change. Merely to assert that people of color were beautiful proved to be a transformative force in art, politics and the arts. The artist grew into integral to the social justice global Black struggle by documenting the legendary boxer leading up to his iconic Rumble in the Jungle in the seventies.
He was appointed the primary visual documentarian for the band's international performances, and later became the resident artist for the iconic Apollo theatre, creating an extraordinary collection of black musicians. Together with his brother, he became the central figure behind securing the South African leader to appear in New York.
Family Legacy
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite is interviewed the family's campaign to achieve appropriate credit for his father's legacy after he was painfully excluded in the nation's capital's cultural museum, opened by Barack Obama in recent years.
The feature also recounts the deeply tragic genesis of the artist's interest in photography: the horrendous photographs of Emmett Till, the adolescent civil rights lynching victim whose mourning family member courageously requested an uncovered casket so the violent nature of racist violence would not be hidden.
Through Darkness to Hope
Through this vision of violence, the artist encountered a type of transformative realization that directed him toward images of community. His images were eloquent of celebratory strength and typically subtle in messaging: he curated a new visual language of strength through which activist groups could mobilize.
It is an inspiring record of creative genius that still resonate across generations.
