The “Batman and Robin” of The Black Arts Movement

by Cinque Brath
My father was not recognized for his unique parenting motif, except for the occasional Father’s Day card, but Elombe Brath was a loving man with strong and unique relationships. Yet, the public knows more about his relationships with his friends and comrades than with his family.

His public identity is based on his global Pan African work: Four of the five organizations he cofounded connected Black histories and were primarily concerned with the liberation of people of the African Diaspora everywhere on the earth.

This was augmented by his long-running WBAI 89.5 radio show called Afrikaleidoscope that provided weekly analyses on what was happening in Africa & The Diaspora.

Elombe Brath, is often cited or paired in association with his work with other leaders when we hear oral histories recanted. Elders in our community pair Elombe Brath with Sonny Carson, and Elombe & Gil Noble, Elombe and Samori Marksman, Elombe & Miles Davis, just to name a few of the numerous pairs or duos, but we don’t often hear about his relationship with his first best friend, his younger brother Kwame Brathwaite, the legendary photographer, my uncle.

None of the community elders tell the story of how Leslie Scott (aka Zaccariah Abdullah), the great dancer, actor & baritone singer of the original Porgy & Bess Musical, mentored the artistic and analytical talents of these brothers when they were 12 and 10, respectively, within his group, Shabazz. Their encounter with Brother Scott led to the brothers’ eventual pioneering role in the Black Arts Movement.

Carlos Cooks, the staunch Garveyite and leader of the African Nationalist Pioneer Movement (ANPM), was the next non-family member mentor.

As the story goes, Cooks happened to stroll into the record store where Elombe was working and made such a strong impression that my father eventually joined ANPM. Naturally, Kwame followed his brother and joined the progressive group.

They shared many experiences together, although not all of them happened at the same time. They once cofounded a graphic design company called Heiroglyphix, and collaborated on design projects daily.

From that experience, they were featured as two of the top 50 black designers in America. The collaboration is highlighted in a recently debuted book, “Where the Black Designers Are: A Life in Advocacy” by Cheryl Holmes Miller (2024).

My father and uncle were born in Brooklyn but reared in the Bronx by immigrant parents from Barbados. The brothers shared a fascination with local history, especially the untold stories of Black marginalized communities.

The creative gene was in the family; their father, Cecil T. Brathwaite, was a hard-working businessman who owned two dry cleaning businesses in Harlem, but his passion was art and painting.

He wanted his sons to be exposed to what the world had to offer, on one hand, but he believed working in the arts field was a luxury. This exposure began with taking the kids on weekend trips to Sag Harbor, but that was eschewed for community work and more socio-political education on the ground.

Their bond as brothers fueled their shared vision, and together, they transformed a teenage passion for studying history into a respected institution that preserved the past and inspired a more inclusive future.

Theirs was a passion fueled by family discussions, sometimes around the dinner, about everything that was on their mind, albeit conversations about Emmett Till being lynched or the troubles that their first cousin Clenell Wickham faced because he championed Black working-class causes against the white planter oligarchy in colonial Barbados. At the same time, Wickham was editor of The Herald newspaper.

The brothers knew that America’s rapidly changing landscape of the 1950’s would gradually shape their ideas and strategies for a deeper mission and purpose.

In 1956, Elombe (19) and Kwame (17), still teens but very mature established the Jazz Art Society, which would later become the African Jazz Art Society & Studio (AJASS), a nonprofit organization focused on preserving jazz as an African art form.

The initial goal was to promote jazz artists, rescue jazz from white interlopers, and preserve it as an African art form. They recruited other talented friends who also believed in the teachings of Marcus Garvey, including Bob Gumbs, Chris Acemandese Hall, and Frank Adu Robinson.

Within a few years, the brothers moved the organization out of their parents’ basement in a house on Kelly Street in the Bronx to a studio office near the Apollo Theater on 125th Street. Their ahead-of-its-time multi-layered organization included the AJASS repertory theater and the AJASS Griots.

Two of the most popular jazz artists of the day, Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, came under their wings. They formed The Grandassa Models, bold, beautiful black women who would later become the engine of the Black is Beautiful movement, and the main feature of the “Naturally” shows.

In the end, the elders didn’t share enough stories about the brothers, but their heirs are proud to convey the stories of these men who jumpstarted so much, including the first Black Arts Movement Organization of the second interlude of the Black Arts Movement. (The Black Arts Movement’s first interlude was the Harlem Renaissance of the 1917 to 1930s).

One elder griot who did recognize the connection is Omowale Clay, the current chairperson of the December 12th Movement. In a May 2023 edition of The Amsterdam News, Clay, was quoted by journalist Herb Boyd emphasizing Kwame’s unbreakable connection to his older brother, Elombe, and their dedication to not only Black is Beautiful but “the struggle for self-determination.”

I remember Elombe

by David Greaves
Elombe was a communicator, and it wasn’t until I began listening to him on WBAI, 99.5 FM, that I came to appreciate the depth of his knowledge, his analysis of the issues facing Black people and the work he was doing to bring information to those of us who needed it so desperately.

In 1999, I had written an article titled “Stolen Land, Stolen Labor: The Case for Reparations,” and Elombe had seen it and honored me with an invitation to speak on the radio show and share information, where before I had been just a listener.

He also invited me to his weekly Harlem forum to present the article to the group. After the lecture, Elombe took up a collection and gave me $36, which may not sound like much, but at that time, it was manna from heaven and a joy to my spirit as I did not think I had enough gas in the car to get Bernice and me back to Brooklyn.

Later, he was instrumental in having me on Gil Noble’s “Like It Is” weekly show on WABC to discuss our article Graham Weatherspoon and I did on the Amadou Diallo shooting and the images we had of dowels in the bullet holes showing the trajectory of the shots.
Elombe was an unselfish source of information, inspiration, and support, and we are fortunate to have known him and benefited from the life he lived.