Costume worn by Michael Jackson in “They Don’t Care About Us” music video: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Costume ensemble worn by Michael Jackson in the 1996 "They Don't Care About Us" (Brazil version) muisc video, consisting of a t-shirt (2020.27.4.1), jeans (2020.27.4.2), and a pair of shoes (2020.27.4.3ab).

The white t-shirt features a black peace sign with the word “OLODUM’ printed in black text above it. The top two quadrants of the peace sign are filled in with yellow, while the bottom proper right quadrant is red and the bottom proper left quadrant is green. The original crew neckline has been cut into a notched v-neck. Some make up can still be seen on the collar and also inside the shirt at the back of the neck. The back of the shirt also has makeup at the neckline. There is a manufacturer’s label on the back of the shirt below the neck. It is outlined in black and has a border of different symbols going around it in black. The background of the tag is white and features three paint-stroke shapes in green, yellow, and red. There is black text over the colored shapes which read [OLODUM / BAHIA – BRASIL]. “Olodum” is in a different font than the bottom row of text. There is a small white, rectangular tag on the side of the shirt which reads [OLODUM] written vertically in black.

The Levi brand traditional five pocket jeans are straight-legged and are a faded mid-wash blue. The button fly has a silver colored button in the front of the pants with raised letters that read [LEVI STRAUSS & CO S.F. CAL] and several other buttons below. There are several belt loops along the waistband. The jeans feature a yellow colored stitching in several areas. One area includes the two back pockets, which both feature Levi’s traditional bat wing shape “signature”, or arcuate. The back right pocket has a small red label with [LEVI’s] written vertically in white letters.

The shoes are black leather penny loafers. The insides of the shoes have a leather sole and are lined around the sides and on the tongue with a tan suede. There are black numbers stamped onto the inside of the proper left show along with words that read [MADE IN U.S. ? ?]. The inside sole of the proper right shoe has a silver letter “D” printed on it and the rest of the letters are faded. The bottoms of the shoes have leather and rubber soles that are very scuffed in several areas. The shoes have a slight heel. The sole of the proper left shoe has writing on it in black ink. It reads [M.J.J. / T.D.C.A.U. / BRAZIL (?) / 2/2] and the final two lines cannot be completely made out. The bottom proper right shoe has black handwriting as well, but some of it has been worn away. [M.J.J. / T.D.C.A.U.] can still be made out. It is possible that the rest says /STREET / WALK]. There is also text which has been indented into the sole and reads [Leather Sole / made in USA]. The proper right heel is made of black rubber and looks different than the proper left heel, which looks like it has had wood or possibly leather nailed onto it. There is raised text on the proper right heel which reads [Dexter / U.S.A.]. The outsides of the shoes have scuff marks in several areas.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1996
• Manufactured by: Banda Olodum, Brazilian, founded 1986
• Manufactured by: Levi Strauss & Co., founded 1853
• Manufactured by: Dexter Shoe Company, American, 1956 - 2001
• Worn by: Michael Jackson, American, 1958 - 2009
• Type: shirts
• Type: jeans
• Medium: 2020.27.4.1 t-shirt: cotton and ink
• Medium: 2020.27.4.2 jeans: denim, metal, and thread
• Medium: 2020.27.4.3ab shoes: leather, metal, rubber, and ink
• Dimensions: H x W (.1 Shirt): 30 × 20 in. (76.2 × 50.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (.2 Jeans): 42 × 15 in. (106.7 × 38.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (.3 Shoes): 3 1/2 × 4 × 11 1/4 in. (8.9 × 10.2 × 28.6 cm)
• Place used: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Latin America, South America
• Cultural Place: Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Latin America, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Dancehall (Music)
• Topic: Popular music
• Topic: Resistance
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Object number: 2020.27.4.1-.3ab
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.