We have witnessed numerous engaging films about image makers: Tish Murtha. It could be the documentary format truly excels when presenting particularly vivid still images. Today we have another outstanding example, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, exploring the impressive life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, performer and social justice champion who exemplified a unique politico-aesthetic vision.
Together with his family member Elombe, he pioneered the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” in the mid-century era by capturing the Grandassa Models in Harlem: youthful Black women who emerged as the transformative template for beauty, abandoning conventional cosmetic products and the usual Caucasian model of womanhood.
The Power of a Simple Phrase
This powerful statement evolved into a transformative unifying message, an brilliant three-word prose poem for progress. Simply to assert that black people possessed beauty emerged as a empowering influence in culture, politics and the arts. Brathwaite became a key figure in the Black power pan-Africanist movement by photographing Muhammad Ali before his legendary Rumble in the Jungle in that era.
He was appointed the official visual documentarian for the musical group's international performances, and later became the house photographer for the iconic Harlem venue, creating an extraordinary collection of musical pioneers. Together with his sibling, he became the central figure behind arranging for the South African leader to address the public in the community.
Historical Recognition
Brathwaite's son the younger Brathwaite recounts the personal mission to ensure due acknowledgment for his family heritage after he was unjustly ignored in Washington DC's cultural museum, established by the former president in 2016.
This documentary additionally explores the deeply tragic genesis of the artist's passion for photography: the shocking photographs of the lynching martyr, the young Black tragic figure whose mourning family member courageously insisted on an uncovered casket so the brutal truth of racist violence would not be concealed.
Amidst Sorrow to Hope
In this image of violence, Brathwaite found a kind of transformative realization that led him toward images of beauty. His images were eloquent of empowering beauty and typically subtle in messaging: he curated a fresh iconography of empowerment through which political movements could mobilize.
The documentary stands as an captivating chronicle of cultural impact that persists in empower decades later.
