We have witnessed numerous engaging films focusing on image makers: Tish Murtha. It could be cinematic storytelling truly excels when displaying particularly vivid still images. Here comes another outstanding case, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, exploring the extraordinary life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, performer and social justice champion who represented a distinct artistic-political perspective.
Together with his brother Elombe, he pioneered the expression “Black Is Beautiful” during the sixties by photographing the Grandassa Models in the cultural epicenter: young Black women who became the groundbreaking archetype for aesthetics, abandoning conventional beauty standards and the usual white model of female beauty.
The Power of Three Words
This powerful statement transformed into a transformative rallying cry, an visionary memorable manifesto for progress. Simply stating that people of color possessed beauty became a transformative power in society, activism and the arts. The artist emerged as part of the social justice African diaspora cause by photographing the legendary boxer leading up to his iconic Rumble in the Jungle in the seventies.
He was appointed the official visual documentarian for the musical group's African tour, and eventually assumed the role of the official visual chronicler for the historic Harlem venue, assembling an extraordinary portfolio of musical pioneers. In collaboration with Elombe, he emerged as the driving force behind arranging for Nelson Mandela to speak in Harlem.
Family Legacy
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite recounts the personal quest to secure due acknowledgment for his parent's achievements after he was unjustly overlooked in the nation's capital's National Museum of African American History and Culture, established by the political leader in recent years.
The film also recounts the deeply tragic inspiration of the photographer's interest in visual storytelling: the shocking pictures of the lynching martyr, the teenage civil rights tragic figure whose mourning family member defiantly requested an public viewing so the violent nature of racial hatred could not be hidden.
Amidst Sorrow to Beauty
Through this vision of horror, Brathwaite discovered a kind of anti-epiphany that guided him toward visual representations of beauty. His work powerfully conveyed celebratory strength and typically not overtly political: he developed a innovative iconography of empowerment around which activist groups could gather.
This represents an captivating testament of creative genius that still resonate through the years.
