History has seen many engaging features focusing on visual artists: Vivian Maier. Perhaps the documentary format truly excels when presenting particularly vivid visual compositions. Here arrives another remarkable example, by creator Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the impressive life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, artist and African American activist who exemplified a unique politico-aesthetic vision.
In partnership with his brother Elombe, he pioneered the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” in the sixties by photographing the African American women in New York: emerging women of color who became the sensational standard for visual appeal, abandoning conventional grooming practices and the established white standard of female beauty.
The Impact of a Simple Phrase
This powerful statement evolved into a transformative call to action, an visionary concise manifesto for transformation. Simply to assert that people of color possessed beauty proved to be a empowering power in culture, activism and creative expression. Brathwaite became integral to the social justice global Black cause by capturing images of the sports icon leading up to his legendary championship fight in the seventies.
He became the exclusive visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's international performances, and subsequently became the official visual chronicler for the iconic cultural institution, creating an extraordinary collection of musical pioneers. Together with his brother, he emerged as the key organizer behind bringing Nelson Mandela to address the public in New York.
Historical Recognition
His son Kwame Jr is interviewed the family's campaign to secure due acknowledgment for his family heritage after he was painfully excluded in the nation's capital's National Museum of African American History and Culture, established by Barack Obama in recent years.
The film also recounts the deeply tragic genesis of the photographer's interest in visual storytelling: the disturbing pictures of Emmett Till, the young Black lynching victim whose bereaved parent courageously requested an public viewing so the violent nature of bigoted brutality could not be concealed.
Through Darkness to Beauty
In this representation of tragedy, Brathwaite encountered a type of transformative realization that led him toward images of community. His work beautifully expressed community pride and frequently not overtly political: he curated a fresh iconography of empowerment around which activist groups could mobilize.
This represents an inspiring record of creative genius that persists in empower across generations.
