Photograph by
Oliver, Tommy, American, born 1984
Subject of
Underwood, Lexi, American, born 2003
Weber, Anthony, American, 2001 - 2018
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: 4480 pixels × 6720 pixels
File size: 172.29 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 of Lexi Underwood 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 was shot from below, looking upwards towards Underwood. She is wearing a black, sleeveless T-shirt, a black baseball-style cap, and a small waist pack worn across her chest. Her hair is arranged in long twists that drape down over her proper left shoulder and behind her back. She is speaking into a microphone in her proper right hand and has pulled a white mask away from her mouth with proper left hand. Black handwritten text on the bottom edge of the mask reads [BREATHE]. Behind Underwood is a partially visible white sign. The sign has an illustration of the face of Anthony “A.J.” Weber at the center with blurred text above and on either side of the illustration. In the background is the Hall of Justice.
Place captured
Downtown LA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
Classification
Media Arts-Photography
Movement
Black Lives Matter
Type
digital images
digital media - born digital
Topic
Activism
Actors
Justice
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
2021.31.32
Restrictions & Rights
© Tommy Oliver
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5f45be259-52cf-4fb2-a3ab-46c61f042811

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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