Hollywood, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
Date:
June 14, 2020
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, color image of image of protesters carrying a banner during 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 image depicts the group of protesters, walking down a city street, carrying a large white banner with large, printed, block letters is text that reads [TOGETHER UNITED / WE’LL NEVER BE DIVIDED]. The words “TOGETHER” and “UNITED” are separated by a large, dripping, red heart and the word “UNITED” is spelled out in black outlined rainbow colors. The banner is held up to neck level by several protesters. One female protester, depicted in the far left foreground, is wearing a shirt with a portrait of Shirley Chisholm on the front. She is holding up a protest sign that reads [Black / Lives / Matter! / BLM] with all of the text underlined. The sign immediately to the right features an illustration of a gun firing a small white skull. The gun discharge emanating from the skull’s open mouth is depicted as a black-to-rainbow explosion aimed towards four stacked faces in profile. Another protest sign, just left of center, portrays a black-and-white caricature of Zachary Guerrero’s face with his nickname [Zach / Gogo] printed below as a signature. Fully visible signs on the right read [DO YOU KNOW / WHAT HAPPENED TO / BREONNA TAYLOR], a sign with a black power fist symbol at the center with surrounding white and rainbow text that reads [ALL BLACK / LIVES MATTER], and a sign with two black handprints on the bottom and black and blue text above that reads [Hands up / Don’t[underlined] Shoot!] and a the hashtag [#BlackLiveMa[tter?] painted below. The street is lined with several multi-storied buildings, a liquor store, street signs, and traffic signals.
