On View
Visual Arts Gallery
Exhibition
Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
Photograph by
Oliver, Tommy, American, born 1984
Subject of
Jordan, Michael B., American, born 1987
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: 3699 pixels × 6476 pixels
File size: 137.1 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 speaking at a Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles protest in Century City, California. The image was taken by Tommy Oliver during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. Jordan is depicted just right of center, addressing a crowd of protesters. He is shown from the waist up, standing above the crowd, turned in three quarters pose, and facing the left edge of the photograph. He is speaking into a microphone in his proper right hand as he looks out over the crowd. He is wearing a black, short sleeve T-shirt, black leather gloves, and a necklace with a metal pendant over his chest. The crowd of protesters surrounding Jordan, watching him speak, are all wearing face masks or other types of face coverings. Behind Jordan on the left, a male protester is holding a large, partially obscured, white sign with dark bubble text that reads [BLACK / LiVeS /[M]ATT[ER]], with a heart symbol dotting the letter “i” in [LiVes] and forming the top spaces in the letters “A” in [BLACK] and [[M]ATT[ER]]. In front of the large sign is a smaller, white protest sign that reads [NO JUSTICE] and [NO Peace] above and below an encircled [Y] symbol. In the background are white buildings, one with columns. 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
Actors
Film
Hollywood (Film)
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
2021.31.56
Restrictions & Rights
© Tommy Oliver
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd532cdcfce-5554-48b7-ae15-d9bcc86776f4

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

Share this page