We have witnessed many fascinating features focusing on image makers: Martin Parr. Perhaps cinematic storytelling truly excels when presenting exceptionally powerful still images. Today comes one more exceptional case, directed by creator Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, musician and social justice champion who embodied a special cultural-activist vision.
Together with his sibling Elombe, he pioneered the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” in the mid-century era by documenting the Harlem models in Harlem: emerging women of color who transformed into the transformative standard for aesthetics, abandoning traditional grooming practices and the predominant Eurocentric model of female beauty.
The Power of Three Words
This powerful statement evolved into a radical rallying cry, an inspired memorable manifesto for progress. Simply stating that people of color radiated beauty became a transformative power in art, politics and creative expression. The artist grew into a key figure in the civil rights global Black cause by capturing images of Muhammad Ali before his historic Zaire bout in 1974.
He became the primary image creator for the band's international performances, and eventually was named the resident artist for the legendary Harlem venue, building an amazing archive of African American artists. In collaboration with his brother, he was the central figure behind bringing the anti-apartheid icon to address the public in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
The photographer's offspring Kwame Jr is interviewed the their mission to achieve proper recognition for his father's legacy after he was painfully ignored in the prestigious Smithsonian institution, inaugurated by Barack Obama in this century.
This documentary further reveals the profoundly sorrowful genesis of the photographer's interest in image making: the horrendous photographs of the lynching martyr, the young civil rights murder victim whose grieving mother courageously insisted on an open coffin so the horrific reality of racist violence might not be concealed.
Amidst Sorrow to Empowerment
From this representation of violence, the visionary encountered a form of transformative realization that led him toward images of beauty. His work powerfully conveyed celebratory strength and frequently not overtly political: he developed a fresh symbolic representation of strength upon which social causes could unite.
It is an captivating chronicle of artistic vision that continues to empower across generations.
