Black Is Beautiful: The Revealing Journey of Trailblazing Visionary Kwame Brathwaite

We have witnessed numerous fascinating documentaries highlighting image makers: Tish Murtha. Perhaps the documentary format particularly shines when presenting remarkably striking photographs. Here we have a new remarkable instance, directed by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, documenting the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, musician and civil rights advocate who exemplified a special cultural-activist approach.

Together with his family member Elombe, he pioneered the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by photographing the African American women in the cultural epicenter: emerging women of color who emerged as the sensational archetype for beauty, abandoning conventional grooming practices and the established Caucasian model of female beauty.

The Power of Three Words

The iconic phrase evolved into a powerful unifying message, an visionary memorable manifesto for change. Simply stating that African Americans possessed beauty emerged as a transformative power in culture, social movements and culture. Brathwaite emerged as part of the civil rights pan-Africanist cause by documenting the sports icon before his legendary Zaire bout in the seventies.

He became the exclusive image creator for the Jackson 5's African tour, and later assumed the role of the resident artist for the historic Harlem venue, assembling an extraordinary portfolio of African American artists. Together with Elombe, he was the central figure behind securing the South African leader to appear in Harlem.

Historical Recognition

His son the younger Brathwaite shares the personal campaign to achieve proper recognition for his family heritage after he was painfully excluded in the nation's capital's Smithsonian institution, inaugurated by Barack Obama in recent years.

The film additionally explores the profoundly sorrowful inspiration of the photographer's passion for visual storytelling: the horrendous pictures of Emmett Till, the adolescent civil rights lynching victim whose grieving mother courageously requested an open coffin so the horrific reality of racial hatred might not be concealed.

Amidst Sorrow to Beauty

From this image of violence, the artist encountered a kind of transformative realization that led him toward images of aspiration. His images beautifully expressed empowering beauty and often subtle in messaging: he curated a innovative iconography of empowerment around which political movements could gather.

This represents an exhilarating chronicle of cultural impact that continues to resonate through the years.