Black Is Beautiful: The Inspiring Story of Trailblazing Photographer Kwame Brathwaite

There have been countless compelling features focusing on visual artists: Tish Murtha. Perhaps the documentary format particularly shines when showcasing remarkably striking photographs. Now we have one more outstanding case, directed by writer-director Yemi Bamiro, documenting the remarkable life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, musician and social justice champion who exemplified a special artistic-political vision.

Together with his brother Elombe, he effectively created the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” in the 1960s by documenting the African American women in the cultural epicenter: emerging women of color who transformed into the transformative standard for aesthetics, abandoning traditional beauty standards and the usual Eurocentric ideal of womanhood.

The Influence of Three Words

Black Is Beautiful evolved into a powerful unifying message, an visionary memorable manifesto for transformation. Simply to assert that black people radiated beauty proved to be a empowering force in culture, social movements and the arts. The photographer grew into integral to the Black power pan-Africanist cause by photographing Muhammad Ali prior to his legendary Zaire bout in 1974.

He became the official image creator for the band's African tour, and later became the resident artist for the legendary cultural institution, building an extraordinary portfolio of African American artists. In collaboration with his sibling, he was the central figure behind bringing Nelson Mandela to address the public in Harlem.

Personal Journey

Brathwaite's son Kwame Jr shares the personal mission to achieve proper recognition for his family heritage after he was painfully overlooked in Washington DC's National Museum of African American History and Culture, established by the former president in 2016.

The feature also recounts the profoundly sorrowful inspiration of Brathwaite's interest in image making: the shocking pictures of Emmett Till, the young Black lynching victim whose grieving mother boldly insisted on an open coffin so the violent nature of racial hatred would not be covered up.

Amidst Sorrow to Empowerment

In this image of violence, the visionary encountered a kind of transformative realization that guided him toward visual representations of beauty. His images powerfully conveyed empowering beauty and frequently subtle in messaging: he established a innovative visual language of empowerment around which activist groups could gather.

It is an exhilarating record of creative genius that persists in empower decades later.