History has seen many engaging documentaries highlighting photographers: Martin Parr. Perhaps the film medium naturally comes alive when showcasing exceptionally powerful still images. Today arrives one more outstanding case, directed by creator Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the extraordinary career of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, artist and social justice champion who exemplified a special cultural-activist vision.
In partnership with his brother Elombe, he pioneered the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” during the 1960s by documenting the Grandassa Models in the cultural epicenter: emerging Black women who transformed into the sensational standard for beauty, moving beyond typical grooming practices and the established Eurocentric model of femininity.
The Power of Three Words
Black Is Beautiful became a radical call to action, an inspired three-word prose poem for progress. Just declaring that people of color possessed beauty became a transformative power in society, activism and creative expression. Brathwaite became integral to the Black power pan-Africanist struggle by documenting the sports icon leading up to his historic Rumble in the Jungle in that era.
He was appointed the official visual documentarian for the band's continental journey, and subsequently became the official visual chronicler for the legendary cultural institution, assembling an extraordinary collection of musical pioneers. Alongside Elombe, he was the key organizer behind arranging for the anti-apartheid icon to address the public in New York.
Personal Journey
His son the younger Brathwaite is interviewed the personal quest to ensure proper recognition for his parent's achievements after he was unjustly excluded in the nation's capital's National Museum of African American History and Culture, established by Barack Obama in recent years.
This documentary further reveals the profoundly sorrowful genesis of the photographer's dedication to image making: the disturbing photographs of the young victim, the adolescent civil rights murder victim whose bereaved parent defiantly demanded an uncovered casket so the violent nature of racial hatred could not be hidden.
From Tragedy to Beauty
In this representation of violence, Brathwaite found a type of profound understanding that directed him toward images of community. His photographs beautifully expressed empowering beauty and often nuanced in approach: he developed a innovative symbolic representation of pride upon which activist groups could gather.
It is an captivating testament of cultural impact that continues to resonate decades later.
