The Beauty of Blackness: The Captivating Story of Game-Changing Visionary Kwame Brathwaite

There have been numerous engaging features focusing on visual artists: Martin Parr. Perhaps the film medium naturally comes alive when presenting particularly vivid visual compositions. Now arrives one more outstanding example, directed by creator Yemi Bamiro, documenting the impressive professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, artist and social justice champion who exemplified a distinct cultural-activist perspective.

Alongside his sibling Elombe, he virtually invented the expression “Black Is Beautiful” during the sixties by capturing the African American women in Harlem: youthful women of color who became the transformative archetype for aesthetics, rejecting traditional beauty standards and the predominant white standard of female beauty.

The Power of a Simple Phrase

The iconic phrase evolved into a powerful rallying cry, an visionary memorable manifesto for progress. Merely stating that black people were beautiful became a transformative power in culture, social movements and the arts. The artist became integral to the civil rights African diaspora cause by photographing Muhammad Ali leading up to his legendary championship fight in 1974.

He was appointed the official photographer for the musical group's African tour, and subsequently was named the resident artist for the legendary Apollo theatre, building an amazing collection of black musicians. In collaboration with his sibling, he was the driving force behind bringing Nelson Mandela to appear in New York.

Personal Journey

The photographer's offspring Kwame Jr recounts the their quest to achieve due acknowledgment for his father's legacy after he was unjustly overlooked in the prestigious Smithsonian institution, inaugurated by the political leader in recent years.

The film also recounts the inexpressibly painful origin of Brathwaite's interest in image making: the shocking images of the lynching martyr, the teenage African American lynching victim whose bereaved parent defiantly demanded an uncovered casket so the horrific reality of racist violence could not be hidden.

Through Darkness to Empowerment

Through this representation of violence, the visionary encountered a form of transformative realization that directed him toward visual representations of community. His work powerfully conveyed celebratory strength and often nuanced in approach: he established a new iconography of strength around which political movements could unite.

It is an captivating testament of creative genius that persists in resonate through the years.