H is…
- 46 Years-Old
- Queer, Non-Binary
- White
- Atheist
- Working Class
- Bisexual
Author’s Note
This series of ads for Haymarket Books was creating after an in-depth conversation about the American Dream and all of its complexities with H. From our conversation I would say H doesn’t believe in the American Dream, as it is a concept linked to a country that continues to tell them that they are “less than” for being who they are. H’s point of view is no doubt a unique one–growing up in a military family, spending time in many places that were not America, and a harboring a particular curiosity for the truth.
I was particularly struck by how early in their life they’d discovered the hypocrisy evident in the American Dream. For example, they’d always been told that communists hated freedom and therefore Americans couldn’t like communists or rather, communist countries. This prompted H’s curiosity. In countries like Cuba and Russia they asked one simple question–“Do you hate freedom?” Almost everyone they spoke to said no. Clearly, “hating freedom” was a false argument.
Their vision for the world is global socialism, so I’ve attempted to create the first step in seeing that picture–reading and learning from new perspectives. The ads highlight hypocrisies about rhetorical sayings often linked to the American Dream. This land was not newfound, it was taken. The roads were not paved in gold, that was a lie made to convince people access to opportunity was equal–which it isn’t. Finally, this land may promise freedom, but for whom?