Untitled: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A digital, color image of YG participating in a Black Lives Matter protest in Hollywood, California. The image was taken by Tommy Oliver during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. YG, pictured center, is in the middle of a tightly packed crowd of protesters. He is holding a large sign with a color photograph of Nipsey Hussle above his head with his proper left hand. YG is depicted from the waist up, facing the viewer, and smiling. He is wearing a black, baseball-style cap worn backwards and a white, short sleeve T-shirt. Printed on the front of his T-shirt is an illustrated color graphic of a KKK Klansman hanging from a tree. Partially obscured black outlined red and yellow text around the illustration reads [K[LU?] [K?]LUX KOPS], [[HA?]NG YO[SELFsic]] and [KILL US? [---?] Y[OU?]]. The large photograph of Hussle depicts him in bust pose with his face turned on profile, towards his proper left shoulder. He is wearing a white puma jacket and has several gold chain necklaces around his neck. Also visible in the photograph, are his checkered flag tattoos on his neck, the facial tattoo over his proper right eyebrow that reads [PROLIFIC], and a smaller one by his eye that reads [GOD / WILL RISE]. His hair is divided into wide sections and plaited into cornrows. Many of the protesters surrounding YG are wearing face masks, or other types of protective face coverings, and some are carrying raised protest signs. In the distant background is a white, neoclassical building on the left and a large leafy tree on the right.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: June 7, 2020
• Photograph by: Tommy Oliver, American, born 1984
• Subject of: YG, American, born 1990
• Subject of: Nipsey Hussle, American, 1985 - 2019
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Subject of: George Perry Floyd Jr., American, 1973 - 2020
• Type: digital images
• Type: digital media - born digital
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: H x W: 4480 pixels × 6720 pixels
• Dimensions: File size: 172.31 MB
• Place captured: Hollywood, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Justice
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Police brutality
• Topic: Race relations
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2021.31.60
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Tommy and Codie Oliver
• 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: © Tommy Oliver Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.