To anyone who feels judged or shamed or embarrassed by this article, please don’t. If you are turning out to protest, that’s FABULOUS and the most important thing. What I’m offering here is about how we can do even better going forward. It isn’t criticism—it’s guidance. Apologies that my writing failed to make that clearer from the outset.
Thank you. It’s very helpful to recognize the times require discipline and strategic thinking and coordination - the need for support and self expression is secondary to the goal of engaging positively with fellow humans. We need to encourage connection rather than vent. Editing for clarity and bringing friends with more simple signs to convey specifics of an issue grows the movement and repeats the theme. Trump ‘s messaging is very repetitious and simple. We can help break the spell if we connect rather than attack. Kudos, Karin.
I typically appreciate your good work and contributions to this movement and the moment we find ourselves in. But to use the NY Times’ unsurprisingly weak coverage of the protests as some sort of validation of the protests’ weak messaging misses the mark for me. The NYT has lost credibility as a neutral, unbiased news source. The whole premise of your argument doesn’t work for me if you believe that more consistent messaging on protest signs will somehow sway or improve the corporate news media’s complicit coverage of the “thousands of protesters” 🪧, for example, when in reality there were clearly millions of us who spoke out across the country and the world. We can no longer rely on the legacy media for objective reporting and should never equate their failures as the failures of our movement. Just my two cents.
I was there. I thought our protest was pretty clear. When we are being hit by a new cut every day/hour, there’s a lot to fight back. Signage is a personal expression, and people come with their part of the protest. We are under attack by our own government. Maybe let’s skip judging the signs and let people express themselves the way they want. It’s a protest. It’s going to be messy. It was peaceful. It was millions. It was put together in just weeks. Everyone needs to bring a friend next time to double the numbers, and bring whatever sign makes you feel heard!
I don't think the comments were meant to be "judging" signs - but calling us to think about how to better leverage signs to engage and invite as many people as possible to join the pushback against the autocratic takeover. Its great to express ourselves, but if we remain speaking to ourselves instead of engaging those who are not already with us, we will have missed an incredible opportunity to build a mass movement.
I invite you not to take this article to be about judging-signs or people.
It seems to me to be about evaluating the effectiveness of what we’re doing. Cogent messages that can effectively express to the world our message may serve our purpose better than thousands of individual expressions
Everyone stews we need to do something. This is a call to make the something we do the most impactful.
My signs were entirely outside of the parameters recommended here. And after I got over the ego hit that I wasn’t THAT clever I realized the truth of needing to be effective, unified and focused on results. So my next round of signs wil get photographed fewer times at the protest but more effective in achieving our goals.
I want our protests to start focusing on getting Kilmar Abrego Garcia home. His plight is a hill worth dying on, for a variety of reasons but mainly because it’s a very clear example of just how fucked up this administration is. If 5 million people had signs about that, he might be brought home.
We need action about Garcia, but I’m not convinced protests are an appropriate response. It really requires something more extreme and urgent, like hunger strikes in front of the White House and Supreme Court, until he’s brought home.
I just said we need something like this.. or people camped in front of the White House until this man is brought back home! We need thousands including his wife.
Now you are talking. I agree we need to actually DO something tangible. A protest that surrounds the entire White House 24 hours a day without gaps will be an actually something. We need to physically impede their daily activities or it is symbolic and gets lost in the “flooded zone” of images and statements
I totally feel the same way. But I also worry that this is a delicate situation with actual lives
at stake. It seems like it's basically a hostage negotiation. So I agree with Karin that protests might not be the best way (at least not yet). But I was thinking that my sign for the next protest could help indirectly. I've asked ChatGPT for some 5th amendment sign ideas: “You Can’t Deport Due Process” "Punishment Without Process = Tyranny” “No Trial? No Justice.” I'm not sure I'll go with any of these, but thought I'd throw them out there.
This is a useful conversation to have. And thanks for pointing out that too many items on a single sign doesn’t work and that being specific instead of general is more effective.
However, I think that humor is a very useful goal of a sign because it makes it more likely to be shared and because it’s hard to be scared of someone or to support someone if you are laughing at them. Autocrats hate mockery. Resistance thrives on laughter and joy.
Moreover, the variety of signs seemed to me to be a strength of the protest. It showed variety of people who attended and that they weren’t organizational driven.
Hi Conor, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I totally agree that humor has a role to play in our signage. That's one of the reasons I was such a fan of the "Honk if you never drunk texted war plans" sign. At the same time, we have to be careful with how we use humor. As I wrote in the article below, "identity fusion" is a real problem with GOP voters. That means they can't tell the difference between an attack on Trump and an attack on them personally. As a result, a lot of what we view as "just good fun" inflicts wounds that push them toward greater extremism. https://karintamerius.substack.com/p/are-we-actually-making-trump-stronger?r=g6x5x
Read your post. I look forward to making my way through the last few months.
I guess I think the immediate need is to go after the people who voted for Trump either because they dislike or distrust all politicians and Trump at least promised something different (ie the voters also attracted to Kennedy) or because they barely pay attention to politics and were upset about inflation. Or they didn’t vote at all. We (the Left/progressives/Democrats) have a reputation for not being funny. Since sometime in Obama’s second term we stopped being the cool party.
I don’t think actual Trump supporters would be persuadable by protest signs and certainly not those they see on the internet even if they ever see them.
If I was marching in, say, Montana, I’d be more conscious that my sign is likely to be seen by real Trump supporters and would adapt.
A lot of these comments reflect an aversion to being strategic in our communications, putting our individual right to express ourselves over what's actually effective. That's anyone's own decision, but I opt for being strategic and saving my jokes and rants for my politically aligned husband.
This made me think back to the Tea Party movement -- all these years later, I can easily recall that the core of the movement was opposition to govt spending -- first the TARP bailouts and then Obamacare. I'm sure there was a cacophony of protest signs, including some racist ones against Obama, but looking back at images of the protests, I see pretty strong message discipline--a strong focus on govt spending, taxes, socialism -- this is why I remember it to this day. By comparison, I don't even know what the April 5 protests were primarily about, and I was there.
Very well put. This coming from me who chose to express rage in my sign for my dearest cause.
This is why we need the Dems to actually lead.
We all know for decades the leadership of the D’s sucks at messaging. But we needed them more than ever since Nov 6 and this article and your comment in particular demonstrate how they have yet to show up.
In 2017 the protests by Move On? March for our lives, the women’s march and the March for science all had so much better leadership and cohesiveness they had double or triple the attendance of anything. In DC this year.
We need leadership that captures the imagination, someone or group we can rally behind, & work together to deliver the message with sufficient cogency people will remember it a decade on.
I think there also seems to be an idea that being strategic and personal/expressive are mutually exclusive. The challenge should be to find a way to do both.
While I agree with the importance of being strategic, I don't have much faith that the New York Times would have covered the protest any differently no matter what the signs said. Some other media outlets figured out the theme without any trouble.
This isn’t a contest about best sign! It’s important that tons of people show up to participate but I don’t show up to look and read signs that are neat and clean. I think it’s important for people to express themselves how they wish. I am happy with my level of engagement.
It is not about “showing up”. Showing up is an outward signal and symbolic.
What it is about is stopping the regime. And in anyway we can do better is something we should do.
This is not some event to be seen at so you can post on your insta. This is the fight for our democracy.
It took 10’s of millions of people DYING to stop Nazis.
Don’t think we can just show up this go round as a ragtag group with our cute signs and amount to anything.
We all need to do all that we can. If certain signs are more effective then we need to do that shit. If we are going protest in the streets the very least we can do is use the best techniques.
Thank you for this very helpful article. Some really good points on how to message better. My biggest frustration with the liberal side of the aisle right now is that we do not seem to have a coherent message. I felt the “hands-off” message was a great one to rally behind, but also struggled with how to represent that on my sign. You’ve given me good things to think about for the next one.
I’m curious what you think of a sign I’ve seen show up recently: “Are we great yet, ‘cause I’m just embarrassed.” Not for the protest but for a yard sign. I’m in a very red area and need to find ways to make my voice heard. I think this sign is not super antagonistic, while still hopefully getting my neighbors to think when they drive by. But is it a helpful statement to the broader cause?
Let’s pick apart the signs.. that is pretty elitist to me. I hate all those stupid printed signs at Trump rallies. I liked that we were individuals at the protest because we are individuals not clones .. quit attacking people who decided at the last minute to do something they had never done. We want him gone.. that’s all .. the media went after Biden nonstop.. where are they now . Worried about their jobs but none of the rest of us.. my next sign might just say Republicans hate America. Is that too general?
A protest is a protest. Sure, you want a cohesive message but let people make signs about what they’re angry about. Full stop.
Also, not hard for any of the media to grasp what this was about; they just chose to bend the knee to the Cheeto and his ilk.
Why does it feel like I’m being scolded for not making my sign like everyone else’s? Our differences and experiences are what make us individuals. I don’t want to be crammed into a box—ever.
Yes but there are localities that have immediate issues that affect the voters right now. We live in a farm district. The farmers are getting screwed by trumps messy tariff messages and turning against his own constituents, so that’s a much More powerful local message than just hands off.
So it’s free speech we are defending, try not to make it unfree. Personal expression is what democracy looks like and that’s the magic of these events. Diversity ! No? Let people say what they will.
Yes! That's exactly the type of message you should focus on in a farming community. When I talk about messaging discipline, I mean sticking to issues that will move the needle rather than whatever you feel like talking about in the moment. Do you have examples of signs that were shared at the protest near you?
Karin, nice job. I especially like the categories of values/principles and identity. I too was confused by the overall messaging. Here's my take, but you your summary is better. Thanks for what you do.
To anyone who feels judged or shamed or embarrassed by this article, please don’t. If you are turning out to protest, that’s FABULOUS and the most important thing. What I’m offering here is about how we can do even better going forward. It isn’t criticism—it’s guidance. Apologies that my writing failed to make that clearer from the outset.
Thank you. It’s very helpful to recognize the times require discipline and strategic thinking and coordination - the need for support and self expression is secondary to the goal of engaging positively with fellow humans. We need to encourage connection rather than vent. Editing for clarity and bringing friends with more simple signs to convey specifics of an issue grows the movement and repeats the theme. Trump ‘s messaging is very repetitious and simple. We can help break the spell if we connect rather than attack. Kudos, Karin.
The article was very good and made great sense to me. I appreciated all the good suggestions!!
I liked this article. I appreciated the suggestions.
Please! No need to apologize. Thank you for a well researched very helpful post. There are lots of us out there who need this advice.
I typically appreciate your good work and contributions to this movement and the moment we find ourselves in. But to use the NY Times’ unsurprisingly weak coverage of the protests as some sort of validation of the protests’ weak messaging misses the mark for me. The NYT has lost credibility as a neutral, unbiased news source. The whole premise of your argument doesn’t work for me if you believe that more consistent messaging on protest signs will somehow sway or improve the corporate news media’s complicit coverage of the “thousands of protesters” 🪧, for example, when in reality there were clearly millions of us who spoke out across the country and the world. We can no longer rely on the legacy media for objective reporting and should never equate their failures as the failures of our movement. Just my two cents.
I was there. I thought our protest was pretty clear. When we are being hit by a new cut every day/hour, there’s a lot to fight back. Signage is a personal expression, and people come with their part of the protest. We are under attack by our own government. Maybe let’s skip judging the signs and let people express themselves the way they want. It’s a protest. It’s going to be messy. It was peaceful. It was millions. It was put together in just weeks. Everyone needs to bring a friend next time to double the numbers, and bring whatever sign makes you feel heard!
Judging signs will make some people stay home Signs are an expression of the creator- judging the signs can be seen as judging the person
I don't think the comments were meant to be "judging" signs - but calling us to think about how to better leverage signs to engage and invite as many people as possible to join the pushback against the autocratic takeover. Its great to express ourselves, but if we remain speaking to ourselves instead of engaging those who are not already with us, we will have missed an incredible opportunity to build a mass movement.
I invite you not to take this article to be about judging-signs or people.
It seems to me to be about evaluating the effectiveness of what we’re doing. Cogent messages that can effectively express to the world our message may serve our purpose better than thousands of individual expressions
Everyone stews we need to do something. This is a call to make the something we do the most impactful.
My signs were entirely outside of the parameters recommended here. And after I got over the ego hit that I wasn’t THAT clever I realized the truth of needing to be effective, unified and focused on results. So my next round of signs wil get photographed fewer times at the protest but more effective in achieving our goals.
I want our protests to start focusing on getting Kilmar Abrego Garcia home. His plight is a hill worth dying on, for a variety of reasons but mainly because it’s a very clear example of just how fucked up this administration is. If 5 million people had signs about that, he might be brought home.
We need action about Garcia, but I’m not convinced protests are an appropriate response. It really requires something more extreme and urgent, like hunger strikes in front of the White House and Supreme Court, until he’s brought home.
Holy cow, hunger strikes? 😳
I just said we need something like this.. or people camped in front of the White House until this man is brought back home! We need thousands including his wife.
Now you are talking. I agree we need to actually DO something tangible. A protest that surrounds the entire White House 24 hours a day without gaps will be an actually something. We need to physically impede their daily activities or it is symbolic and gets lost in the “flooded zone” of images and statements
I totally feel the same way. But I also worry that this is a delicate situation with actual lives
at stake. It seems like it's basically a hostage negotiation. So I agree with Karin that protests might not be the best way (at least not yet). But I was thinking that my sign for the next protest could help indirectly. I've asked ChatGPT for some 5th amendment sign ideas: “You Can’t Deport Due Process” "Punishment Without Process = Tyranny” “No Trial? No Justice.” I'm not sure I'll go with any of these, but thought I'd throw them out there.
Some were punchy but I felt weird about like "“Stop Outsourcing Abuse” ummm there's a problem there (don't really want to bring abuse back home).
This is a useful conversation to have. And thanks for pointing out that too many items on a single sign doesn’t work and that being specific instead of general is more effective.
However, I think that humor is a very useful goal of a sign because it makes it more likely to be shared and because it’s hard to be scared of someone or to support someone if you are laughing at them. Autocrats hate mockery. Resistance thrives on laughter and joy.
Moreover, the variety of signs seemed to me to be a strength of the protest. It showed variety of people who attended and that they weren’t organizational driven.
Hi Conor, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I totally agree that humor has a role to play in our signage. That's one of the reasons I was such a fan of the "Honk if you never drunk texted war plans" sign. At the same time, we have to be careful with how we use humor. As I wrote in the article below, "identity fusion" is a real problem with GOP voters. That means they can't tell the difference between an attack on Trump and an attack on them personally. As a result, a lot of what we view as "just good fun" inflicts wounds that push them toward greater extremism. https://karintamerius.substack.com/p/are-we-actually-making-trump-stronger?r=g6x5x
Read your post. I look forward to making my way through the last few months.
I guess I think the immediate need is to go after the people who voted for Trump either because they dislike or distrust all politicians and Trump at least promised something different (ie the voters also attracted to Kennedy) or because they barely pay attention to politics and were upset about inflation. Or they didn’t vote at all. We (the Left/progressives/Democrats) have a reputation for not being funny. Since sometime in Obama’s second term we stopped being the cool party.
I don’t think actual Trump supporters would be persuadable by protest signs and certainly not those they see on the internet even if they ever see them.
If I was marching in, say, Montana, I’d be more conscious that my sign is likely to be seen by real Trump supporters and would adapt.
I'm sick of tiptoeing around Fascistas.
A lot of these comments reflect an aversion to being strategic in our communications, putting our individual right to express ourselves over what's actually effective. That's anyone's own decision, but I opt for being strategic and saving my jokes and rants for my politically aligned husband.
This made me think back to the Tea Party movement -- all these years later, I can easily recall that the core of the movement was opposition to govt spending -- first the TARP bailouts and then Obamacare. I'm sure there was a cacophony of protest signs, including some racist ones against Obama, but looking back at images of the protests, I see pretty strong message discipline--a strong focus on govt spending, taxes, socialism -- this is why I remember it to this day. By comparison, I don't even know what the April 5 protests were primarily about, and I was there.
Very well put. This coming from me who chose to express rage in my sign for my dearest cause.
This is why we need the Dems to actually lead.
We all know for decades the leadership of the D’s sucks at messaging. But we needed them more than ever since Nov 6 and this article and your comment in particular demonstrate how they have yet to show up.
In 2017 the protests by Move On? March for our lives, the women’s march and the March for science all had so much better leadership and cohesiveness they had double or triple the attendance of anything. In DC this year.
We need leadership that captures the imagination, someone or group we can rally behind, & work together to deliver the message with sufficient cogency people will remember it a decade on.
I think there also seems to be an idea that being strategic and personal/expressive are mutually exclusive. The challenge should be to find a way to do both.
While I agree with the importance of being strategic, I don't have much faith that the New York Times would have covered the protest any differently no matter what the signs said. Some other media outlets figured out the theme without any trouble.
Corporations pay PR and advertising firms a lot of money for advice like this. Thank you, Karin.
I think you’re way overthinking this.
This is not a school project or an essay. This is a quick and easy way to show up and be counted and be loud.
I think any sign that you show up with shows that you care and you’re with other people that care.
We know why we’re there and I expect Saturday’s crowd to be bigger and better than ever !
I think you’re way under thinking this! It’s not enough just to show up right now!
This isn’t a contest about best sign! It’s important that tons of people show up to participate but I don’t show up to look and read signs that are neat and clean. I think it’s important for people to express themselves how they wish. I am happy with my level of engagement.
No
It is not about “showing up”. Showing up is an outward signal and symbolic.
What it is about is stopping the regime. And in anyway we can do better is something we should do.
This is not some event to be seen at so you can post on your insta. This is the fight for our democracy.
It took 10’s of millions of people DYING to stop Nazis.
Don’t think we can just show up this go round as a ragtag group with our cute signs and amount to anything.
We all need to do all that we can. If certain signs are more effective then we need to do that shit. If we are going protest in the streets the very least we can do is use the best techniques.
Thank you for this very helpful article. Some really good points on how to message better. My biggest frustration with the liberal side of the aisle right now is that we do not seem to have a coherent message. I felt the “hands-off” message was a great one to rally behind, but also struggled with how to represent that on my sign. You’ve given me good things to think about for the next one.
I’m curious what you think of a sign I’ve seen show up recently: “Are we great yet, ‘cause I’m just embarrassed.” Not for the protest but for a yard sign. I’m in a very red area and need to find ways to make my voice heard. I think this sign is not super antagonistic, while still hopefully getting my neighbors to think when they drive by. But is it a helpful statement to the broader cause?
Let’s pick apart the signs.. that is pretty elitist to me. I hate all those stupid printed signs at Trump rallies. I liked that we were individuals at the protest because we are individuals not clones .. quit attacking people who decided at the last minute to do something they had never done. We want him gone.. that’s all .. the media went after Biden nonstop.. where are they now . Worried about their jobs but none of the rest of us.. my next sign might just say Republicans hate America. Is that too general?
A protest is a protest. Sure, you want a cohesive message but let people make signs about what they’re angry about. Full stop.
Also, not hard for any of the media to grasp what this was about; they just chose to bend the knee to the Cheeto and his ilk.
Why does it feel like I’m being scolded for not making my sign like everyone else’s? Our differences and experiences are what make us individuals. I don’t want to be crammed into a box—ever.
Rant over.
Scolded and shamed
It’s an interesting way to inspire people
Me too.,
Yes but there are localities that have immediate issues that affect the voters right now. We live in a farm district. The farmers are getting screwed by trumps messy tariff messages and turning against his own constituents, so that’s a much More powerful local message than just hands off.
So it’s free speech we are defending, try not to make it unfree. Personal expression is what democracy looks like and that’s the magic of these events. Diversity ! No? Let people say what they will.
Yes! That's exactly the type of message you should focus on in a farming community. When I talk about messaging discipline, I mean sticking to issues that will move the needle rather than whatever you feel like talking about in the moment. Do you have examples of signs that were shared at the protest near you?
Yes a few that are memorable. Fire the liar !
This is really useful! I’ve been sharing it a lot. We’ve got protests on Saturday.
Karin, nice job. I especially like the categories of values/principles and identity. I too was confused by the overall messaging. Here's my take, but you your summary is better. Thanks for what you do.
-Hobie
https://skywaterearthhobie1.substack.com/p/what-are-the-hands-off-march-messages
This is very helpful!
Great advice! Thank you!!