Black Is Beautiful: The Captivating Story of Game-Changing Visionary Kwame Brathwaite

There have been countless engaging documentaries focusing on image makers: Vivian Maier. It could be the film medium truly excels when displaying particularly vivid visual compositions. Today comes another outstanding example, directed by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, documenting the remarkable life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, artist and social justice champion who embodied a distinct artistic-political vision.

Alongside his sibling Elombe, he pioneered the expression “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the sixties by photographing the Grandassa Models in Harlem: youthful women of color who transformed into the groundbreaking standard for beauty, abandoning typical grooming practices and the usual Eurocentric standard of female beauty.

The Impact of Three Words

Black Is Beautiful transformed into a radical call to action, an brilliant memorable prose poem for transformation. Simply stating that people of color radiated beauty emerged as a transformative influence in culture, social movements and culture. Brathwaite emerged as integral to the civil rights global Black cause by capturing images of the sports icon prior to his iconic Rumble in the Jungle in that era.

He served as the exclusive photographer for the Jackson 5's African tour, and later was named the official visual chronicler for the legendary Apollo theatre, building an incredible portfolio of African American artists. In collaboration with his brother, he was the key organizer behind bringing the South African leader to appear in Harlem.

Historical Recognition

Brathwaite's son his namesake shares the family's mission to ensure appropriate credit for his parent's achievements after he was unjustly excluded in the prestigious cultural museum, inaugurated by the former president in recent years.

This documentary further reveals the inexpressibly painful origin of Brathwaite's interest in photography: the disturbing pictures of the young victim, the teenage civil rights tragic figure whose mourning family member defiantly demanded an uncovered casket so the brutal truth of bigoted brutality could not be concealed.

Through Darkness to Empowerment

Through this representation of violence, Brathwaite discovered a kind of transformative realization that directed him toward visual representations of community. His images beautifully expressed empowering beauty and typically subtle in messaging: he curated a new iconography of empowerment upon which social causes could unite.

It is an inspiring record of cultural impact that persists in inspire through the years.