OPINION — If you don’t know Rosanell Eaton’s name, it’s time to learn exactly who she was and why her life and life’s work matters. She is the antidote to the cynicism infecting politics in 2018, a hero of democracy when democracy is under siege. She cared about her country and its highest principles, demanded her basic human and civil rights and brought others along with her.

Rosanell Eaton would not take “no” for an answer.

Her 97 years of life were full of the kind of accomplishments and resistance that truly make America great. We can mourn Eaton, who died on Saturday, and then honor her by following her example.

Those who think the state of our democracy is fragile have plenty of legitimate reasons, including continuing efforts by the Wisconsin and Michigan state legislatures to shrink the power of incoming Democratic elected officials, following the lead of members of Congress in Washington driven more by the urge to hoard power than a constitutional duty to provide checks and balances to the executive branch.

In Georgia, Republican Brian Kemp’s win over Democrat Stacey Abrams wasn’t exactly unexpected, since Kemp, as secretary of State, oversaw the election, a situation too absurd to be believed.