Black Is Beautiful: The Revealing Story of Game-Changing Photographer Kwame Brathwaite

We have witnessed many compelling documentaries about visual artists: Vivian Maier. It could be cinematic storytelling naturally comes alive when presenting remarkably striking visual compositions. Now we have one more exceptional instance, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, exploring the impressive professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, artist and social justice champion who represented a special politico-aesthetic perspective.

Alongside his family member Elombe, he effectively created the expression “Black Is Beautiful” during the 1960s by photographing the Harlem models in New York: emerging Black women who transformed into the transformative template for beauty, abandoning conventional grooming practices and the predominant Eurocentric model of female beauty.

The Impact of Three Words

This powerful statement transformed into a powerful rallying cry, an inspired concise manifesto for progress. Just stating that people of color radiated beauty emerged as a transformative force in art, activism and creative expression. Brathwaite grew into a key figure in the social justice pan-Africanist movement by capturing images of Muhammad Ali prior to his legendary Rumble in the Jungle in 1974.

He became the official visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's continental journey, and subsequently was named the resident artist for the historic Apollo theatre, building an extraordinary collection of African American artists. Alongside his brother, he was the driving force behind arranging for the South African leader to address the public in New York.

Historical Recognition

The photographer's offspring Kwame Jr recounts the their campaign to achieve proper recognition for his father's legacy after he was painfully ignored in the prestigious Smithsonian institution, established by Barack Obama in recent years.

The feature also recounts the deeply tragic inspiration of the artist's interest in photography: the horrendous images of Emmett Till, the teenage Black tragic figure whose mourning family member boldly demanded an uncovered casket so the violent nature of racial hatred would not be covered up.

Amidst Sorrow to Beauty

Through this representation of violence, the visionary found a kind of anti-epiphany that directed him toward images of community. His photographs were eloquent of community pride and typically not overtly political: he curated a new symbolic representation of empowerment upon which social causes could gather.

This represents an exhilarating record of creative genius that persists in empower through the years.