It was a joy to paint this illustration for Kindler– with Kamala Harris in mind, of course– but it’s bittersweet to write about it now.

When I was looking through my vintage dictionaries for the text in this image, it struck me that the words “kind, kindly, kindness, & kindergarten” appeared on the same page. It inspired me to add a little kinder-kitten looking up to the kindler-cat, as so many little girls did to Kamala — although she was actually more likely to get down on their level to encourage them.

Kamala Harris was a ray of hope at a dismal moment in our country’s history. Sadly, not enough of us came through to bring her vision of the future to light. It was a tragedy for our country, but it will be even worse if we give up hope now & stop trying.

As she said after the election, “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time. For the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case. But, America, if it is: Let us fill the sky with the light of a billion brilliant stars.”

More of us need to do the work now than ever before. Don’t tune out, keep doing what you can to protect rights that are being threatened. Contact representatives, speak out for the oppressed, support organizations that are still making the effort.

With that in mind, half of the profits from this print will be donated to the ACLU.