The legend of style, Mr. Kwame Brathwaite, who convinced Black people to adorn African fashions even when shooting slugfests in Zaire, has passed away at a spry 89. Mr. Brathwaite spent a lifetime convincing people they were beautiful when clothed in brightly colored clothing instead of society’s casting off shades of gray. As a result, his photos are a twirling kaleidoscope of culture, style, humor, and unity – all with an undeniable African swagger.
In 1972, Mr. Brathwaite captured Wattstax, the grooviest music festival in LA, known as the Black Woodstock, where headliners like the Staples Singers and Isaac Hayes boogied the night away. It was all big hair and bell bottoms, baby! Then in 1974, he ventured to Africa to snap some killer pictures of the legendary heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The rumble in the jungle never looked so hip and happening! That same year, he tagged along with the Jackson 5 on their funky first trip to Africa, capturing their splendiferous adventure.
Tanisha C. Ford, a super cool historian at the University of Delaware, wrote in the photography magazine Aperture in 2017, “Kwame Brathwaite’s images are like the secret sauce that made the 1960s pop with color and life. They made Black beautiful for those groovy cats who lived back then, and continue to inspire a new generation today who might only now be discovering the pure magic of his work.”/n/n
