Many Hands
Many hands helped build this nation. In creating this artwork I’m inspired by the hands of people that were pricked and bloodied picking cotton in the hot sun in order to develop industry during slavery and after. This country was built upon their labor, the literal fabric of the flag. While making this I thought of an old African American spiritual song I often heard as a child with the refrain “We’ve got to hold up the blood stained banner, we’ve got to hold it up until we die.”