<I>J.D. McClain’s Day in Court</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1970
name: label: Created by
content: Jeff Donaldson, American, 1932 - 2004
label: Subject of
content: Jonathan Jackson, American, 1953 - 1970
label: Subject of
content: Harold Joseph Haley, American, 1904 - 1970
label: Subject of
content: Black Panther Party, American, 1966 - 1982
label: Subject of
content: AfriCOBRA, founded 1968
notes: label: Description
content: This mixed media work is Jeff Donaldson's interpretation of a photograph taken of the 1970 Marin County courthouse incident. The original newspaper photograph and caption can be seen in the center of the image. The figure on the left in the artwork has his left hand outstretched and the source image in the palm of his hand. In the original photograph, the man on the left is James McClain. In both images, he is holding a gun in his right hand at eye level pointed toward the figure on the right. Unlike McClain in the newspaper photograph, the man in the painting is wearing a black and white horizontally striped shirt with white numbers, [81970], on a black strip reminiscent of prison clothing. He is also wearing tan pants and a white jacket.
label: Description
content: The figure on the right in the original image is California Superior Court Judge Harold Haley dressed in black court dress robes. In Donaldson's mixed media piece, the black robes are partially visible but Haley's figure has a skull in place of his head and is reaching toward the man on the left. The piece is multicolored. In the center is black text on a white background that reads [GLASS] and repeats [-SS] below. To the left of the skull is [A] in the stars and stripes pattern of the American flag. The artist signed the work at the bottom. The artwork is floating unglazed in a white frame.
place: label: Place depicted
content: San Rafael, Marin County, California, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Black power
label: Topic
content: Law
label: Topic
content: Mass media
label: Topic
content: Prisons
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
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: 2017.33.2
objectType: label: Type
content: paintings
label: Type
content: mixed media
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Jeff Donaldson
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: paint on cardboard with ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (artwork): 29 1/8 × 19 5/16 in. (74 × 49 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (frame): 31 1/8 × 21 3/16 × 1 3/4 in. (79.1 × 53.8 × 4.5 cm)