Black Is Beautiful: The Inspiring Journey of Trailblazing Artist Kwame Brathwaite

There have been numerous engaging features highlighting image makers: Vivian Maier. Maybe the film medium particularly shines when presenting remarkably striking photographs. Now arrives one more remarkable case, directed by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, documenting the remarkable professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, artist and social justice champion who exemplified a unique artistic-political vision.

In partnership with his sibling Elombe, he pioneered the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” in the sixties by documenting the Harlem models in New York: young African American women who transformed into the groundbreaking archetype for beauty, rejecting typical grooming practices and the predominant Caucasian ideal of female beauty.

The Impact of a Revolutionary Slogan

Black Is Beautiful transformed into a transformative call to action, an inspired memorable manifesto for change. Just to assert that people of color radiated beauty proved to be a liberating force in culture, politics and the arts. Brathwaite grew into a key figure in the civil rights pan-Africanist cause by photographing the legendary boxer leading up to his historic championship fight in the seventies.

He was appointed the primary image creator for the band's African tour, and later assumed the role of the official visual chronicler for the legendary Harlem venue, creating an amazing collection of black musicians. Together with his brother, he was the central figure behind securing the anti-apartheid icon to address the public in the community.

Historical Recognition

Brathwaite's son the younger Brathwaite recounts the their campaign to secure proper recognition for his father's legacy after he was unjustly excluded in the prestigious Smithsonian institution, established by the former president in 2016.

The film further reveals the profoundly sorrowful origin of the artist's passion for photography: the disturbing images of the lynching martyr, the adolescent African American murder victim whose bereaved parent courageously insisted on an uncovered casket so the brutal truth of racial hatred would not be concealed.

From Tragedy to Beauty

In this vision of violence, the artist discovered a type of profound understanding that led him toward images of aspiration. His images beautifully expressed community pride and often nuanced in approach: he curated a fresh symbolic representation of pride around which social causes could unite.

It is an inspiring record of artistic vision that persists in inspire through the years.