<I>Freedom T-shirt</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2023
name: label: Created by
content: Jammie Holmes, American, born 1984
notes: label: Caption
content: The 1963 March on Washington was a watershed moment for the Civil Rights Movement. Here, ­­­artist Jammie Holmes honors its legacy with an artwork speaking to the ongoing striving toward freedom and equality.
label: Caption
content: The man in the painting, his back turned to the viewer, wears a graphic T-shirt featuring an American flag and the face of Martin Luther King Jr., commemorating the 50th anniversary of the march. Over his right shoulder hangs a medallion in the shape of the African continent. Images of former U.S. President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama appear on a patch on the bed linens surrounded by gold glitter. Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton’s portrait floats in a whiskey glass. Several flags form the border, including the Pan-African flag and David Hammons’s African-American Flag, 1990.
label: Description
content: A painting by Jammie Holmes depicting a reclining figure with a border composed of multiple flags. The central figure wears a black t-shirt and lounges on a bed, his back turned to the viewer to display the t-shirt's 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington graphic. The graphic features Martin Luther King, Jr. in front of the red and white stripes of the American flag as well as a depiction of a historical pinback button promoting the march. The button has a graphic of a white hand clasping a black hand with the text "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963." Hanging from around the figure's neck is a black leather medallion with the continent of Africa depicted in red, green, and black. Displayed next to it is a gold glitter framed portrait of Black Panthers leader Fred Hampton, where his face is depicted inside a snifter glass with a red rose next to it. Stitched into the bed's white cover in the foreground is a portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama with a halo of gold glitter embroidery. Surrounding the central scene is a thin border of gold glitter and a wide border with a repeating design of four flags: a yellow, green, red and black striped flag; the green, black, and red striped Pan-African flag; David Hammons' African American flag; and a flag with a large black field above a single red and green stripe, a white outlined star in the top left and two eyes in the top right. The painting is signed and dated by the artist in ink on the verso.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Politics
label: Topic
content: United States History
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: Movement
content: Civil Rights Movement
label: Movement
content: Pan Africanism
label: Exhibition
content: Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2024.75
objectType: label: Type
content: paintings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Jammie Holmes
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acrylic paint and glitter on canvas
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 90 × 90 × 4 in. (228.6 × 228.6 × 10.2 cm)