Display and Wear a Yellow Rose for Freedom, Democracy and Civilization

A Proposal for a Peaceful and Beautiful Artistic Resistance Symbol against Inmate Number P01135809, MAGA, and Project 2025. The United States' Suffragists Knew the Power of the Yellow Rose Too.

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Color symbolism has always played a role in my creative writing. One of my favorite lessons for my first year writing students when they began work on their digital portfolios and multimodals focused on color symbolism. I prefer black-and-white for fine art photography and my novice fine art photography. However when I do take color photos in Photo I at Chicago Photography Classes this fall, I will stay mindful of color meaning in my images.

One of my first fine art photographs. Title: Dead flower on concrete.

Another thing I stay mindful of in my creative work are objects with a special interest in flowers. Part of my self-education in fine art photography is studying the work of painters. One of my favorite YouTube art channels is ArtDeco. The narrator's brilliance in her deep dives tinged with snark and humor teaches me more about composition, lines, depth, lighting, color and the selection, meaning and position of objects including flowers.

Art and its use of symbolism has always impacted political and social movements. Art must be used now. The stakes are astronomically high in the 2024 Presidential election and in the work to make the electorate aware of Project 2025. It’s not hyperbole to claim a second Inmate Number P01135809 presidency that kicks Project 2025 into full effect will end the United States and the world. Nuclear war is a real possibility not often mentioned, and it needs to be. Back in the summer of 2016, Tony Schwartz, the author who wrote Inmate Number P01135809’s The Art of the Deal said electing the convicted felon and adjudicated rapist could “lead to the end of civilization.”

Art in its resistance must use beauty and meaning to simply express its mission and goal. That is why I am advocating we display (i.e., images on social media, stickers, magnets) and wear a single yellow rose.

I am not an organizer and don’t know the logistics of making this message spread. I just know we need to consider this proposal and share it with others, especially those who know how to organize and have a larger platform than me. We must work together to make the yellow rose the symbol of political artistic resistance before and after the Tues., November 5, 2024 election.

Early this week, I researched flowers and learned the rose is the national flower for the United States. In 1986 when he signed the official proclamation to make the rose the national flower, President Ronald Reagan wrote, "More often than any other flower, we hold the rose dear as the symbol of life and love and devotion, of beauty and eternity . . . . The American people have long held a special place in their hearts for roses." The rose symbolizes love, and roses are often presented for achievement.

I then looked into colors that symbolize freedom. Yellow in ancient China represented freedom. The yellow in the Black History Month flag represents optimism and justice. Soon I remembered the 2004 HBO film Iron Jawed Angels. If you have access to Max, I encourage you to check it out. At the end of the film, the suffragists and their allies wear yellow roses for women’s suffrage. Along with friendship and joy, a yellow rose also symbolizes wisdom.

The color theory web site Color with Leo provides more information about the color yellow:

Yellow is often associated with enlightenment, optimism and vision. For freedom movements, yellow represents the intellectual clarity and hope that comes with demands for liberation. Yellow conveys the sense that independent thought, inquiry, and ambition can thrive once repressive systems are removed. The vibrant yellow of sunflowers specifically symbolizes the hunger for knowledge and determination to look forward toward greater freedoms. Groups embracing the yellow colour give a nod to emancipation coming through education and uplifting of marginalized voices. The yellow in flags can also signify the golden opportunities presented by self-rule free from constraints of the past.

A Yellow Rose Project gives an overview of why the U.S. suffragists utilized the yellow rose:

. . . [W]omen wearing yellow roses stood shoulder to shoulder in Tennessee awaiting the roll call of men that would cast their votes for or against a woman’s right to a voice in government. The bright flower was an outward symbol of their expression to gain equal representation. After decades of untold risk—through oppression, brutality, incarceration, and even starvation—women on many fronts, in their communities, on the state level as well as the national scale, fought against insurmountable odds to gain the right to be a part of the democratic process.

Five female Negro officers of Women's League, Newport, R.I, 1899. Photo from The Library of Congress

It must be acknowledge that for decades the 19th amendment just granted white women the right to vote. Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other women of color would have to continue fighting for their voting rights after the 19th amendment’s 1920 ratification. Iron Jawed Angels does not shy away from the white suffragists’ racism and lack of inclusion. The clips below are scenes with journalist, feminist and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett.

The first clip that opens with the immigrant sewing-factory worker Ruza realizing “a vote is a fire escape” later features Wells-Barnett confronting Alice Paul about Black women not being included in the organized Washington D.C. march. The next clip below shows Wells-Barnett defiantly joining the Washington parade.

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Despite the white suffragists’ racism, the yellow still “symbolizes hunger for knowledge and determination to look forward toward greater freedoms.” Our continued fight for liberation, knowledge, wisdom, inclusion and equity is what Inmate Number P01135809, MAGA, and Project 2025 want to eradicate — even it means also eradicating the U.S. and the world.

A vote is indeed a fire escape from this projected nightmare, and making a yellow rose the artistic resistance expresses our solidarity clear and loud. Let’s think about and work toward making my yellow rose proposal a reality.