My Nomination for the New Face of the $20 Bill

Since 1928 Andrew Jackson’s face has adorned the $20 bill. A group of individuals believes it’s time for a change up and they want to see a woman’s face replace Jackson’s. I’m all for this. There’s a good reason people were lining up to kill Jackson and those reasons really should have disqualified him from appearing on our money. But the people behind this movement, sadly, have created a list of approved women. Approved lists don’t sit well with me but of the women listed I would say Harriet Tubman deserves the honor. She holds a special place in my heart for breaking the law by helping runaway slaves get to the safety of the North.

With that said, I’d like to present another nomination: Anne Bonny. The reason I want to nominate her is because she embodies the American dream. Like so many her family fled their home country of Ireland in the hopes of finding a better life in the new world. She suffered setbacks before her father made it big but was then later disowned by him. Not one to let the dream of success fall to the wayside she and her husband pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and set course for Nassau. For those of you familiar with Nassau during the 1700s it had another name: the Pirates Republic. Anne made a life for herself by joining the elite ranks of pirates. In so doing she declared herself outside the rule of the state and took up a far more honorable source of work than any politician.

For far too long our money has immortalized despots and tyrants. I think it’s we adorn our money with more respectable faces.