Costume worn by Michael Jackson in “They Don’t Care About Us” music video

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

This ensemble was worn in Jackson’s music video for his 1996 release “They Don’t Care About Us.” With lyrics addressing racism, bigotry, and police brutality, the music video was directed by Spike Lee and shot on location in Dona Marta, a Rio de Janeiro favela. The video brought attention to the widespread poverty in Brazil and, in a manner, promoted global solidarity against police brutality directed towards communities of color. The impending video shoot was not welcomed by Brazilian government officials who were initially concerned with how the favela would be portrayed in the video. Citizens of the favela welcomed the video and hoped it would bring doctors and better social conditions to their community. In a further nod to the Afro-Brazilian community, Jackson’s video featured Olodum (also the word on the shirt he wore), a drumline ensemble, or bloco-afro, derived from Afro-Bahia carnival traditions 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). 2020.27.4.1 T-shirt: 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. 2020.27.4.2 Jeans: 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….

Catalog date

1996

Recorded places

Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Latin America, South America; Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Latin America, North and Central America

Recorded subjects

African American; Activism; Clothing and dress; Costume; Dancehall (Music); Popular music; Resistance; Rock and roll (Music)

Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗