Boombox carried by Radio Raheem in the film Do the Right Thing: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A Promax Super Jumbo boombox (2014.270.2.1a) used as a prop by the character Radio Raheem in the Spike Lee directed picture, "Do the Right Thing". The boombox includes a dual audio casette tape deck, an equilizer section, radio dial, colored light display, and a pair each of 8" subwoofers, midranges, and tweeters. There are sections of red, yellow, and green electical tape with black ink text on the sides and top of the player. There are also rectangular black, green, and yellow "Public Enemy" stickers adhered to both sides of the player. On the lower back of the boombox is handwritten text in gold ink reading [BROOKLYN, N.Y. / 3/17/90 / To Gene / RADIO RAHEEM LIVES / LOVE, Spike Lee / "FIGHT THE POWER"]. There is a metal handle attached to the top of the player, around which two braided bracelets (black-and-white 2014.270.2.1b, colored 2014.270.2.1c) and multi-colored printed cloth (2014.270.2.1d) have been tied. The "rewind" button on the proper right tape deck has fallen off (2014.270.2.1e). The boombox had an audio cassette in the proper right deck (2014.270.2.2), titled "JAZZ CLUB / Vocal". The cassette is off-white with black text and is printed with track titles, manufacturing information, and serial number.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1989
• Manufactured by: Tecsonic, South Korean
• Used by: Bill Nunn, American, 1952 - 2016
• Signed by: Spike Lee, American, born 1957
• Owned by: Gene Siskel, American, 1946 - 1999
• Subject of: Public Enemy, American, founded 1982
• Type: audio equipment
• Medium: plastic, metal, wire, cloth, pressure-sensitive tape, ink
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2014.270.2.1a Handle Up): 19 1/2 × 31 1/4 × 9 in. (49.5 × 79.4 × 22.9 cm)
• Place used: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2014.270.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.