The Beauty of Blackness: A Revealing Journey of Revolutionary Artist Kwame Brathwaite

We have witnessed countless fascinating documentaries about image makers: Tish Murtha. It could be the documentary format truly excels when showcasing particularly vivid visual compositions. Now arrives another outstanding example, by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the extraordinary career of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, performer and social justice champion who embodied a distinct politico-aesthetic approach.

Together with his family member Elombe, he virtually invented the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the sixties by capturing the Grandassa Models in Harlem: emerging women of color who transformed into the groundbreaking template for beauty, moving beyond conventional grooming practices and the established Eurocentric standard of womanhood.

The Power of a Simple Phrase

This powerful statement became a transformative unifying message, an brilliant concise prose poem for change. Merely to assert that African Americans possessed beauty proved to be a liberating force in culture, social movements and culture. The artist emerged as part of the social justice global Black cause by photographing the sports icon leading up to his iconic Rumble in the Jungle in the seventies.

He was appointed the exclusive image creator for the band's continental journey, and subsequently became the official visual chronicler for the legendary Apollo theatre, building an amazing portfolio of musical pioneers. In collaboration with his sibling, he emerged as the driving force behind bringing the South African leader to speak in Harlem.

Personal Journey

The photographer's offspring Kwame Jr recounts the family's quest to achieve appropriate credit for his father's legacy after he was painfully excluded in the nation's capital's Smithsonian institution, opened by the political leader in recent years.

The film also recounts the deeply tragic origin of Brathwaite's dedication to visual storytelling: the disturbing pictures of the lynching martyr, the teenage African American lynching victim whose bereaved parent boldly demanded an uncovered casket so the brutal truth of racist violence could not be covered up.

Amidst Sorrow to Beauty

In this vision of tragedy, Brathwaite discovered a kind of transformative realization that led him toward images of aspiration. His images powerfully conveyed community pride and often subtle in messaging: he established a innovative visual language of strength through which political movements could unite.

It is an captivating testament of creative genius that persists in resonate across generations.