Photograph by
Oliver, Tommy, American, born 1984
Subject of
Jordan, Michael B., American, born 1987
Sampson, Kendrick, American, born 1988
Unidentified Man or Men
Unidentified Woman or Women
Floyd, George Perry Jr., American, 1973 - 2020
BLD PWR, American, founded 2018
Date
June 6, 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 Michael B. Jordan and Kendrick Sampson with a crowd of protesters in a Black Lives Matter protest in Beverly Hills, California. The image was taken by Tommy Oliver during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. Both Sampson and Jordan are facing the viewer and are marching within a group of tightly packed protesters. Sampson, pictured slightly blurred in the right foreground, is shown from the chest up, speaking into a handheld microphone attached to a bullhorn. He is holding the bullhorn upright on his proper right shoulder while speaking into the microphone in his proper left hand. He is wearing a black T-shirt with white text on the chest that reads [BLD / PWR]. He is also wearing a black knit cap and a black face mask with the white piping that has been pulled down and is resting on his collarbone. Jordan, at the center of the image, is shown from the waist up, wearing a black T-shirt, black gloves, and has a pendant necklace with a leather thong draped over his chest. He has a serious expression on his face and is adjusting his proper left glove with his proper right hand. The protesters surrounding them are wearing face masks. The woman between Sampson and Jordan is wearing a black T-shirt with partially visible white text on the front that reads [PHENOME[NALLY?] / BLAC[K/]]. To the left, in the foreground, is a woman wearing a dark tank top and a surgical mask. Above her head, is a partially obscured white sign and with visible text that reads, [[---?] / #BLM]. In the background, are additional protesters and a white building with rows of dark windows.
Place captured
Beverly Hills, 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
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
2021.31.48
Restrictions & Rights
© Tommy Oliver
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd59cf08db2-cbcb-4b7f-962e-8844e635089f

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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