DEMOCRACY
12”x 4”x 4”
Mixed Media
2020
Vintage American Flag remnants, fabric, Glass
COLLECTION OF THE ARKANSAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Benjamin Franklin was once asked, ‘What do we have, a republic or a monarchy?’ Franklin replied, ‘A republic, if you can keep it.’ Our responsibility is to keep it.”

What people don’t know and history has conveniently erased is that the person that asked him that was a woman. Mrs. Elizabeth Willing Powel of Philadelphia. The first record of the anecdote appears in a 1787 journal kept by one of the delegates to the convention, James McHenry of Maryland. He wrote: “A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” McHenry added a footnote to the text: “The lady here alluded to was Mrs. Elizabeth Willing Powel of Philadelphia.” * Zara Anishanslin, Washington Post, October 29, 2019

As a woman artist, I was fascinated by that part of history that I’d never known. And as an activist, I have been on the front lines of the protests, the lobbying for legislation, observing the passion and personal struggles of individuals, listening to the endless news cycles, learning to be a better ally, and all this while listening to people who were not doing these things, complain that “this is the end of our Democracy.”

Well of course it could be. It’s been that way since the 1700’s. This is EXACTLY what Elizabeth Willing Powel was asking Benjamin Franklin for clarity and this is EXACTLY what he meant in his response.

Every generation has to fight for their rights. There will bloodshed, there will be strife, there will be pain, and unfortunately there will be death, but in the long run there will be persistence, hope, achievements, advancements, change, and a new day. This is what it takes to preserve what we call ‘freedom’ and we have had the rare opportunity on this historical timeline to experience it first hand. To be a part of this moment of change has been an honor. “Our responsibility is to keep it” is a charge that we as American’s can never disregard due to privilege, comfort or complacency.