- Photograph by
- Oliver, Tommy, American, born 1984
- Subject of
- Jones, Helen, American
- Unidentified Man or Men
- Unidentified Woman or Women
- Horton, John Thomas III, American, died 2009
- Floyd, George Perry Jr., American, 1973 - 2020
- Lacey, Jackie, American, born 1957
- Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles, American, founded 2013
- Date
- June 3, 2020
- Medium
- digital
- Dimensions
- H x W: 3818 pixels × 6720 pixels
- File size: 146.84 MB
- Caption
- Photographer Tommy Oliver is an award-winning producer and cinematographer in television and film. Best known for his 2020 documentary 40 Years a Prisoner on HBO, his docuseries Black Love (2017–2020) on OWN, and his feature film The Perfect Guy (2015), Oliver challenges audiences to question their assumptions about race, gender, and family. The film Kinyarwanda (2011), which Oliver co-produced, weaves together narratives of resilience during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. It won the Sundance Film Festival’s award for World Cinema Drama and was recognized as one of the top 10 films of 2011. This photograph is part of a broader portfolio of images taken during Black Lives Matter rallies in Los Angeles between May 31 and June 14, 2020.
- Description
- A digital, black-and-white image John Horton’s mother, Helen Jones, speaking at a Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles protest against District Attorney Jackie Lacey in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The image was taken by Tommy Oliver during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. The image depicts Jones right of center. She is shown in profile, from the chest up, facing the left edge of the image. She is wearing a black, short sleeve T-shirt, and has a surgical mask pulled down under her chin. She is speaking into a microphone directly held in her proper left hand. Her proper right hand is balled into a fist in front of her. On Jones’ proper left wrist is a black rubber bracelet with white text that reads [BLACK LIVE[S?]]. She also has a pinback button attached to the front of her T-shirt and glasses hooked over the front neckline of her shirt. To the left of Jones, is a partially visible protester holding up a small white poster. On the far left, is a slightly blurred man, depicted in profile. He is wearing a light tone vest over a dark tone, sleeveless shirt, a black face mask, and protective eyewear. To the left of the man is the head of a fourth person; a woman wearing dark sunglasses and a wide headband. In the background is a light tone, multi-storied building with rows of dark windows and two leafy trees.
- Place captured
- Downtown LA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Photographs and Still Images
- Movement
- Black Lives Matter
- Type
- digital images
- digital media - born digital
- Topic
- Activism
- Families
- Justice
- Motherhood
- Photography
- Police brutality
- Race relations
- Resistance
- U.S. History, 2001-
- Urban life
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Tommy and Codie Oliver
- Object number
- 2021.31.16
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Tommy Oliver
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




