The “Hope” poster that street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey created for Barack Obama’s upstart 2008 presidential campaign is the enduring image from that election. Nothing else seemed to capture the spirit of the moment and the feeling that swept across the nation like that iconic image in tones of overlapping red and blue.
Fairey’s signature style has been imitated many times since then—often poorly. There are even websites that will take an image and apply a faux version of the theme. Meanwhile, the original work has made its way to the National Portrait Gallery. For anyone who was swept up in that first Obama campaign, it’s impossible to glimpse that striking portrait without feeling an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and … hope.
Now Fairey is back with a new image of Kamala Harris, and it includes one word every bit as empowering as “Hope” was 16 years ago. For Harris, the word is “Forward.”
As Fairey made clear in his full statement on the artwork, “Forward” is a way to encapsulate the message that Harris has been spreading at every rally: We are not going back.
We are not going back. In fact, we have a very real opportunity to move forward. If we act we can move forward our desire for a healthy planet, for corporate accountability, toward equality and away from racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia, for equitable access to opportunity, for full access to the medical care we want or need, for fair and just immigration policies.
That original image was much imitated. But this … this is the real deal.
Keep America moving forward and restore the feeling of hope that swept the nation in 2008. Send $10 to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz today!
