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Keep Hope Alive Alive and Other Democratic Clichés

Artist Suzanne Broughel's "Keep Hope Alive Alive" project takes vintage designs from past Black presidential candidates (Jesse Jackson and Shirley Chisholm mostly) and altered them to remove the candidate's name and image leaving the generic imagery of "hope," "change," and the other clichés of the

Hrag Vartanian

Hrag Vartanian

— 2 min read

Artist Suzanne Broughel‘s “Keep Hope Alive Alive” project takes vintage designs from past Black presidential candidates (Jesse Jackson and Shirley Chisholm mostly) and altered them to remove the candidate’s name and image leaving the generic imagery of “hope,” “change,” and the other clichés of the 1970s and 1980s Democratic party.

By erasing any sign of the candidate Broughel’s series focuses on the vintage imagery of “race, gender, idealism, and cynicism,” to use her words. The project, which originally created years ago, was resurrected for this year’s Art In Odd Places festival in October, when the artist handed out the free “campaign” buttons to pedestrians along with a flyer detailing the erased information.

This is an altered graphic from a vintage Jesse Jackson political button. Jackson made bids for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. The orignial button reads “Run Jesse Run!”
This is an altered graphic from a vintage Shirley Chisholm political button. Chisholm made a bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1972. The center of the original button reads “Shirley Chisholm for President” in large blue letters.
This is an altered graphic from a vintage Jesse Jackson political button. Jackson made bids for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. Overlaying the rainbow image on the original button are the words “Jackson for President in 1984.”
This is an altered graphic from a vintage Shirley Chisholm political button. Chisholm made a bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1972. On the original button, the name “Chisholm” and the date “72” appear in the center of the image.

For more information on Broughel’s “Keep Hope Alive Alive” project, visit alivekeephope.blogspot.com.