- Photograph by
- Oliver, Tommy, American, born 1984
- Subject of
- Unidentified Man or Men
- Unidentified Woman or Women
- 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: 172.3 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 a large mass of protesters 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, taken from a higher perspective, is looking down at the crowd. The entire image is filled with protesters, many of whom are wearing face masks and carrying raised protest signs. In the front, left foreground are two loudspeakers wrapped with cords and attached to a tall, black, metal armature. In the bottom left corner of the image there is a white protest sign with dark handwritten text that reads [ReaL / SOLDiers / Fight 4 / FREEDOM!] at the center, [R.I.P / to All / murdered / by DirTY / Cops] in the top left corner, and [187 / 2 / Cops!] in the top right corner. A fully visible sign in the right foreground is white with dark handwritten text that reads [Prosecute / Killer COPS]. Just right of center is a black sign with a white frame and centered text that reads [BLACK LIVES / MATTER / [---?]ForRacialJustice.org].
- 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
- 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
- 2021.31.37
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Tommy Oliver
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




