We have witnessed countless fascinating documentaries focusing on visual artists: Tish Murtha. Perhaps the documentary format truly excels when displaying particularly vivid still images. Now comes another remarkable example, from creator Yemi Bamiro, exploring the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, musician and civil rights advocate who represented a unique politico-aesthetic perspective.
In partnership with his family member Elombe, he effectively created the expression “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the 1960s by documenting the Grandassa Models in the cultural epicenter: youthful Black women who transformed into the groundbreaking template for beauty, abandoning traditional beauty standards and the usual Caucasian standard of womanhood.
The Impact of Three Words
Black Is Beautiful became a powerful unifying message, an inspired concise prose poem for progress. Merely declaring that black people radiated beauty proved to be a empowering influence in art, social movements and culture. The photographer emerged as a key figure in the social justice global Black movement by photographing the legendary boxer before his legendary Rumble in the Jungle in 1974.
He served as the primary image creator for the Jackson 5's African tour, and subsequently became the house photographer for the historic Apollo theatre, building an amazing portfolio of African American artists. In collaboration with his sibling, he became the key organizer behind arranging for the South African leader to appear in the community.
Family Legacy
Brathwaite's son Kwame Jr shares the their mission to ensure proper recognition for his father's legacy after he was painfully ignored in Washington DC's Smithsonian institution, inaugurated by the political leader in 2016.
The film further reveals the deeply tragic inspiration of the photographer's passion for image making: the shocking photographs of the lynching martyr, the young Black tragic figure whose grieving mother defiantly insisted on an public viewing so the horrific reality of racial hatred could not be covered up.
Through Darkness to Hope
From this representation of horror, Brathwaite encountered a kind of transformative realization that directed him toward photographs of aspiration. His photographs beautifully expressed celebratory strength and typically subtle in messaging: he developed a new symbolic representation of pride through which social causes could mobilize.
The documentary stands as an inspiring record of creative genius that continues to resonate through the years.
