- Photograph by
- Oliver, Tommy, American, born 1984
- Subject of
- Unidentified Woman or Women
- Unidentified Man or Men
- Floyd, George Perry Jr., American, 1973 - 2020
- University of Southern California, founded 1880
- 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 two unidentified female protesters participating in a Black Lives Matter protest in Century City, California. The image was taken by Tommy Oliver during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. The two women are standing at the front of a large group of protesters, holding protest signs in front of their torsos. Both women are depicted from the waists up, with their bodies turned slightly towards the left edge of the photograph. The woman on the left is holding a white sign with dark handwritten text that reads [I AM NOT BLACK / BUT I SEE Y[OU?] / I AM NOT BLACK / BUT / HEA[R YOU?] / I AM NOT BLACK / BUT I WILL STAND W/ [YOU?]]. She is wearing a black face mask over her nose and mouth, a black tank top, dark aviator-style sunglasses, and a black baseball-style cap with a white [adidas] logo on the front of the crown. Her hands are cradling the bottom edge of her sign. The woman on the right is holding a white protest sign with black handwritten text that reads [Black lives Matter / Black BODiES Matter / Black CHIL- / DREN / MATTER / Black love MAT- / TERS / Black ART MATTERS / Black Dreams MATTE[R/] / [Bla]ck Future [MATTER?]]. She is wearing a black face mask over her nose and mouth, a long sleeve jean shirts with rolled up sleeves, dark aviator-style sunglasses; and a dark baseball-style cap with white outline text on the front of the crown that reads [USC]. Her hands are wrapped around the front bottom corners of her sign. The women are surrounded by other protesters, many of whom are wearing face masks, or other types of protective face coverings, and carrying protest signs.
- Place captured
- Century City, 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
- 2021.31.53
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Tommy Oliver
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




