We have witnessed many compelling documentaries highlighting visual artists: Tish Murtha. It could be the documentary format truly excels when presenting exceptionally powerful photographs. Now we have another exceptional example, from creator Yemi Bamiro, documenting the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, musician and civil rights advocate who exemplified a special artistic-political approach.
Alongside his sibling Elombe, he effectively created the expression “Black Is Beautiful” in the 1960s by documenting the Grandassa Models in the cultural epicenter: emerging African American women who transformed into the sensational template for beauty, abandoning traditional grooming practices and the established white standard of femininity.
The Power of Three Words
Black Is Beautiful became a transformative unifying message, an visionary memorable prose poem for progress. Simply declaring that people of color radiated beauty proved to be a liberating power in society, politics and creative expression. The photographer became integral to the civil rights pan-Africanist struggle by photographing the sports icon leading up to his legendary Zaire bout in the seventies.
He became the primary visual documentarian for the musical group's African tour, and eventually assumed the role of the house photographer for the legendary Apollo theatre, assembling an incredible portfolio of musical pioneers. In collaboration with Elombe, he became the central figure behind securing the anti-apartheid icon to speak in New York.
Historical Recognition
Brathwaite's son Kwame Jr recounts the family's campaign to secure appropriate credit for his family heritage after he was painfully excluded in Washington DC's cultural museum, opened by the former president in 2016.
The film additionally explores the inexpressibly painful inspiration of the photographer's interest in image making: the horrendous photographs of Emmett Till, the adolescent Black lynching victim whose bereaved parent boldly insisted on an uncovered casket so the horrific reality of racial hatred might not be concealed.
Amidst Sorrow to Empowerment
In this image of violence, the visionary discovered a type of profound understanding that led him toward visual representations of aspiration. His photographs were eloquent of empowering beauty and typically not overtly political: he established a innovative visual language of pride through which activist groups could gather.
It is an inspiring testament of creative genius that continues to resonate across generations.
