We have witnessed numerous compelling films focusing on visual artists: Tish Murtha. Maybe the film medium particularly shines when presenting remarkably striking visual compositions. Today comes a new exceptional instance, by writer-director Yemi Bamiro, exploring the remarkable life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, performer and African American activist who exemplified a special politico-aesthetic approach.
Together with his family member Elombe, he virtually invented the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the 1960s by photographing the Grandassa Models in Harlem: young African American women who transformed into the transformative standard for beauty, rejecting traditional beauty standards and the usual Caucasian ideal of womanhood.
The Impact of a Revolutionary Slogan
This powerful statement transformed into a transformative rallying cry, an inspired concise manifesto for transformation. Just stating that people of color possessed beauty became a transformative influence in culture, activism and the arts. The artist grew into integral to the civil rights pan-Africanist cause by documenting Muhammad Ali leading up to his iconic championship fight in 1974.
He was appointed the exclusive visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's international performances, and eventually became the house photographer for the historic Harlem venue, creating an incredible collection of musical pioneers. In collaboration with Elombe, he emerged as the driving force behind arranging for Nelson Mandela to appear in the community.
Personal Journey
His son Kwame Jr is interviewed the their campaign to ensure due acknowledgment for his parent's achievements after he was hurtfully excluded in Washington DC's National Museum of African American History and Culture, established by the political leader in this century.
The feature also recounts the inexpressibly painful inspiration of Brathwaite's interest in image making: the shocking images of the young victim, the adolescent Black murder victim whose mourning family member boldly requested an public viewing so the horrific reality of racial hatred might not be concealed.
From Tragedy to Empowerment
In this image of horror, the visionary discovered a type of transformative realization that directed him toward photographs of community. His photographs beautifully expressed empowering beauty and typically not overtly political: he developed a new symbolic representation of strength upon which activist groups could mobilize.
The documentary stands as an exhilarating testament of artistic vision that continues to inspire decades later.
