"Here is another outstanding example, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, about the remarkable career of Kwame Brathwaite, a photographer, musician and African American activist who was a unique politico-aesthete. With his brother Elombe, he virtually invented the phrase Black Is Beautiful in the 1960s by photographing the Grandassa Models in Harlem: young African American women who became the sensational template for beauty, doing away with the usual cosmetic products and the usual white standard of femininity."
"Simply to assert that black people were beautiful was a liberating force in art, politics and culture, and Brathwaite became a part of Black power's pan-Africanist movement by photographing Muhammad Ali before his Rumble in the Jungle fight in Zaire in 1974. He was the exclusive photographer for the Jackson 5's African tour, and became the house photographer for the Apollo theatre, building an amazing archive of black musicians, and with Elombe was the driving force behind bringing Nelson Mandela to speak in Harlem."
Kwame Brathwaite photographed the Grandassa Models in Harlem and helped originate the phrase Black Is Beautiful by showcasing natural African American beauty and rejecting white beauty standards. He merged artistry and activism, capturing figures such as Muhammad Ali prior to the Rumble in the Jungle and serving as the exclusive photographer for the Jackson 5's African tour. He became the house photographer for the Apollo Theatre and built a vast archive of Black musicians. He and his brother helped bring Nelson Mandela to speak in Harlem. His son worked to secure recognition after hurtful institutional oversight, and Emmett Till's image inspired his photographic commitment.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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