There have been many fascinating documentaries focusing on image makers: Tish Murtha. Perhaps the documentary format truly excels when presenting particularly vivid visual compositions. Here arrives another outstanding example, directed by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, exploring the extraordinary career of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, artist and civil rights advocate who embodied a special cultural-activist approach.
In partnership with his sibling Elombe, he pioneered the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” during the sixties by capturing the African American women in Harlem: emerging Black women who became the groundbreaking standard for beauty, abandoning conventional beauty standards and the usual white standard of female beauty.
The Influence of a Revolutionary Slogan
Black Is Beautiful evolved into a transformative rallying cry, an inspired memorable prose poem for change. Just to assert that black people possessed beauty emerged as a empowering power in society, activism and creative expression. Brathwaite emerged as part of the Black power African diaspora cause by capturing images of Muhammad Ali leading up to his legendary Zaire bout in that era.
He was appointed the primary visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's continental journey, and eventually was named the official visual chronicler for the legendary Apollo theatre, assembling an extraordinary archive of musical pioneers. Together with his sibling, he emerged as the central figure behind securing Nelson Mandela to address the public in the community.
Personal Journey
His son the younger Brathwaite is interviewed the their mission to ensure appropriate credit for his family heritage after he was unjustly excluded in Washington DC's National Museum of African American History and Culture, established by Barack Obama in this century.
The film also recounts the deeply tragic origin of the photographer's interest in visual storytelling: the horrendous pictures of the lynching martyr, the young civil rights murder victim whose mourning family member courageously demanded an open coffin so the violent nature of bigoted brutality could not be concealed.
Through Darkness to Hope
In this image of tragedy, the artist encountered a type of anti-epiphany that guided him toward images of aspiration. His images powerfully conveyed celebratory strength and frequently subtle in messaging: he curated a fresh symbolic representation of strength upon which political movements could mobilize.
The documentary stands as an inspiring record of creative genius that continues to resonate decades later.
