Here are a few signs used at anti-Trump protests in Janesville, WI. I’m uploading them here in case anyone might want to print them for use elsewhere. I made about half of these, and the other half were curated from the internet. Different signs were designed to speak to different audiences. For many, the emphasis is on humor.
Just a few comments on the utility of humor in combating rightwing populists, such as Trump….
This summary of a conference on strategies for combating rightwing extremism is worth reading in full, but here I’ll just note one of the primary recommendations that emerged:
“Ridiculing instead of stigmatization and fear-mongering. The far right lives and dies by provocation. As demonstrated by a number of examples (that of Jobbik in Hungary, the Front National in France or the Freedom Party in Holland) fear-mongering and diabolising the far right may often backfire and could in fact increase the relevance and reach of these political organizations. For the far right gains its strength from the dual claim that they are the sole ‘champions’ of truth and, in contrast to the mainstream political elite, they have the courage ‘to say it as it is’, which also explains all the anger aimed at them. Moreover, some far right organizations (such as the Hungarian Jobbik, British EDL and the Greek Golden Dawn) become attractive in the eyes of young people thanks to their mobilizing subculture and the fads they generate. The ‘frightful’ image of the far right painted by the political establishment also adds to the appeal of these organizations. Therefore, making their ideas the subject of ridicule (the far right’s simplistic, bombastic and single-minded ideology offer an excellent target) may be a much more effective strategy than all the efforts to sow fear. And here, along with mainstream politicians, investigative journalism also has a major role to play. Obviously, political forces are not expected to stand by idly as the written and unwritten rules of democracy are violated, although an appeal to such an attitude may be effective only in countries with strong democratic traditions. It is also essential that politicians and the media refrain from stigmatizing radical forces and radical voters (‘Nazis’) for this generic label usually makes it more difficult for these voters to return to the political mainstream.”
Horatian satire (clever, wry, not over-the-top) appears to work better than Juvenalian satire (attacking with anger, over-the-top). I think that’s because Horatian satire can get past people’s mental filters (and make them laugh, even if they don’t want to), while people tend to apply mental filters to block Juvenalian satire. Here’s one analysis of effectiveness of different types of humor against rightwing populists.
A nice article here on the Tactics of the Two-Tailed Dog Party in Hungary: “Is Humour the Best Weapon Against Europe’s New Wave of Xenophobic Nationalism?”
Here’s a pertinent dialogue from New Tactics in Human Rights. “Tactics That Tickle: Laughing All the Way to the Win”
Many examples here: “Humorous Political Stunts: Nonviolent Public Challenges to Power”
Otpor used humorous approaches like this to very good effect against Milosevic in Serbia. One of the founders of Otpor, discussing laughtivism.
Video from a humorous protest of a white supremacist rally in Charlotte a few years ago:
Anti-Trump Posters
Downloadable pdf here.
Downloadable pdf here.
Downloadable jpg here.
Downloadable jpg here.
Downloadable pdf here.
Downloadable png here.
Downloadable jpg here.
Downloadable jpg here.
Downloadable pdf here.
Downloadable jpg here.
Downloadable pdf here. I chose to make this particular sign in part because a study of all anti-Trump ads on TV found that among voters, the ad on which this sign was based was the most effective in shifting people's opinions. Basically, Trump supporters want to view Trump as their champion, and finding that he screws over the little guy is incompatible with Trump being their champion (raising the question - are they too being suckered). Among Trump supporters, I personally did find this sign to be rather effective.
For the subset of images above that I didn’t make myself, I couldn’t determine the original creators (other than the Clay Bennett cartoon in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the billboard cartoon from the Community of St Luke Church), given multiple unattributed copies of each image floating around the internet, but I wish to express appreciation to the creators.