Star-Mangled Banner

Part of my Star-Spangled Banner collection:

Thanks KrishnaBlue for the spiffy title!

Being an American in this day and age is… schizophrenic. In that spirit, this image is about both the good and the bad. It celebrates the beauty and vast diversity of our land and our many peoples, plural - because our differences are the wellspring of the nation’s vitality and virtue.

This piece necessarily also bears grudging witness to our immense capacity for morally vacuous behavior, our propensity to ignore deeply systematized cruelty along racial and socioeconomic lines at home and abroad, and parodies our teeth-gnashing inner turmoil as first-world scoundrels of the first-degree…

To be an American of humanity and honesty is to hold tightly to common sense, to nurture critical thinking skills, and practice decency in public discourse with friend and foe alike.

Happy birthday, America!