Explore Black History

June 14, 2020

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.

A digital, color image of two unidentified protesters participating in the All Black Lives Matter march in Hollywood, California. The image was taken by Tommy Oliver during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. The two protesters are standing side-by-side, facing the viewer, holding their respective protest signs above their heads. The protester on the left is holding up a black sign accented with rainbow colors along the edges, attached to a small wooden stake at the bottom. The sign has large, white, handwritten text on the front that reads [BLACK / TRANS / LIVES / MATTER]. To the left of the text is a white outlined illustration of a black power fist held upright. The protester is holding the stake with their proper left hand. Their proper right hand is resting at their side, holding a cell phone. The protester is wearing a navy blue, short sleeve T-shirt with a white Star of Life printed over their proper left breast. They are also wearing black shorts, white socks, a black baseball-style cap turned backwards, wraparound iridescent sunglasses, and a black face mask. The second protester, standing on the right, holds a protest sign aloft with both hands. The sign is white with black, red, and blue handwritten text reading [SAY THEIR NAMES]. Written in smaller, blue and red text on the left and right edges of the sign are the following names: [George Floyd / Breonna Taylor / Ahmaud Aubrey / Eric Garner / Michael Brown / Laquan McDonald / Bettie Jones / Pamela Turner / Eric Reason / Tony McDade] on the left, and [Rodney King / Dominique Clayton / Terrill Thomas / Philando Castile / Atatiana Jefferson / Walter Scott / Tamir Rice / Trayvon Martin / Ezell Ford] on the right. The protester is wearing a black, short sleeve T-shirt with white block text over the chest that reads [F[O?]STER / AD[O?]PT / RESCUE/ ADVOCATE / support your local rescue] and a black face mask. The two protesters are standing next to a double yellow line in the middle of a street. The background is crowded with other protesters, some of whom are wearing face masks and other types of protective face coverings, and some carrying protest signs. In the background is a city block lined with low buildings and leafy trees, set against a bright blue, cloudless sky.

Photograph of participants at the All Black Lives Matter march in Hollywood

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Photographs and Still Images

Black Lives Matter

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Tommy and Codie Oliver

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2021.31.66

digital images
digital media - born digital

© Tommy Oliver
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

digital

H x W: 5317 pixels × 4063 pixels
File size: 123.65 MB

Title • Untitled

nmaahc_2021.31.66

NMAAHC

UNTITLED

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

2020s

Garner, Eric • Reason, Eric • Ford, Ezell • Rice, Tamir Elijah • Taylor, Breonna • King, Rodney Glen • Jones, Bettie • Scott, Walter • Floyd, George Perry • Clayton, Dominique • Jefferson, Atatiana • McDade, Tony • McDonald, Laquan • Turner, Pamela • Martin, Trayvon • Brown, Michael • Thomas, Terrill • Oliver, Tommy • Arbery, Ahmaud • Castile, Philando

Hollywood • United States • Los Angeles County • North and Central America • Los Angeles • California

Justice • Photography • Resistance • Activism • Police brutality • LGBTQ • Black Lives Matter • Urban life • U.S. History, 2001- • Race relations • Gender issues • Group identity

Locale • Hollywood • City • Los Angeles • County • Los Angeles County • State • California • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America

digital media - born digital • Photographs

Images

Limited Use