Photograph by
Oliver, Tommy, American, born 1984
Subject of
Brown, Kaylah, American
Unidentified Man or Men
Unidentified Woman or Women
Floyd, George Perry Jr., American, 1973 - 2020
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 Kaylah Brown addressing a crowd of protesters at 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. Brown is depicted just right of center, addressing a crowd of protesters. She is shown from the waist up, standing above the crowd, and turned in three quarters pose towards left edge of the photograph. Her chin is lifted, and she is looking into the distance to the left. She is speaking into a handheld microphone in her proper right hand. The microphone is attached to a bullhorn that she is holding above her head with her proper left hand. She is wearing a black track jacket with three, white, racing stripe bands around the upper bicep of her proper left arm and has pulled her black and white bandana under her chin. Her long hair has been pulled back in a low ponytail. Slightly behind Brown, on the left, is an unidentified male protester holding up a large white sign with dark, large, stylized bubble letters on the front that reads [BLACK / LiVeS /MATTER], with a heart symbol dotting the letter “i” in [LiVeS] and forming the top spaces in the letters “A” in [BLACK] and [MATTER]. The man is standing within a crowd of protesters listening to the Brown. Most of the protesters are wearing face masks, or other types of protective face coverings. In the background are three multi-storied buildings. At the center is a building with a rounded exterior and balconies.
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
2021.31.55
Restrictions & Rights
© Tommy Oliver
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd51a5f2c16-05fd-4172-90d2-711b67ab61ed

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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