Prints of “maps for noncompliance” my new vent diagram poster arrived today! She makes a depressingly logical pair with my 2016 trump poster, born of a similar feeling parsing of what I can/any of us can do.
And yet it’s always a quiet joyful moment, being able to touch the thing. I made this poster in time where there was no time, mostly scribbling on my iPad in the back of meetings, texting my most brilliant friends for their feedback on the details (probably an annoying number of time, thank you dear ones). I’m thinking about how much sharper the questions are that I ask in this poster than it’s first partner, how much more about us and less about me- and perhaps optimistically believing that that shift is not an anomaly, it’s a collective clarification of the next moves of our popular front. We will not comply with cruelty, we cannot get stuck in despair. We have a lot of work to do.
The store closes this Wednesday December 10. Get your order in before we go underground for another year.
Lookloud.org/stickers (link in bio)
All orders will be shipped Dec 12, in time for the winter holidays.
#streetart #politicalstickers #streetstickers
The power of a poster is the conversations it starts. When we bring posters from our movements to our homes, offices, schools and houses of worship, we set the terms for the conversations we can have about the world that’s ours to win.
one more week to get yr own copies of Rachel Schragis and Josh Yoder’s posters, help fund free stickers at art builds for the rest of our year!
lookloud.org/stickers
(*bc we’re also selling stickers!)
With a little over two weeks until democratic primaries for the NYC mayoral race, New Yorkers are pulling out all the stops to elect a Mayor we can trust. Andrew Cuomo’s lead is crumbling, but we don’t have much time left to stop him. To beat Cuomo’s chaos and corruption, New Yorkers need to DREAM.
We saw how @dreamfornyc has been painting the town with one mandate for all new yorkers: *D*on’t *R*ank *E*vil *A*ndrew for *M*ayor, and joined in. A scandal-ridden known sexual abuser whose botched NY state covid policy killed untold numbers of elders in nursing homes and whose campaign is funded by Trump supporters—Cuomo brings chaos and corruption wherever he goes.
If you’ve spent time in NYC you already know, every bodega will serve you coffee in a to-go cup with this design. Flip through for source image of this pro-immigrant nyc lore created by 1900’s Greek immigrants who brought their love of coffee with them to NYC.
You can go peek in Brooklyn through election day- at Underhill Ave & Lincoln Pl—- share your own snap to remind your friends to vote. And not to rank Cuomo.
Banner fabricated and dropped by @ethdoobs@andrewnazdin@cassie.dorland@onespacefor
Visual Strategy Training: April 20–25. Outside Philadelphia.
If you want more skills – We need more comrades. This spring, we’re doing our first ever week-long in-person training, with hosting support from our friends at Training for Change
We’re bringing together 20-25 people from across our movements who want support and a community to push their craft. We’ll dig deep into the practical mechanics and theory of how visuals help our movements build power, and sharpen our skills for every stage of the process- from brainstorming and slogan-crafting, to community art facilitation, to action staging and documentation.
If you know a movement leader who’s making signs and banners, or wants to get serious about learning how–we encourage them to apply! DM us with any questions.
Sliding scale cost, scholarships and childcare stipends available
More info + application at:
trainingforchange.org/public_workshops/visual-strategy-intensive/
+ link in bio
There’s a lot of confusing conversation about antisemitism out there, from real & scary incidents to bad-faith accusations, to bizarre defenses of Nazi salutes.
We’re here to help you unravel it: Check out the #UnravelingAntisemitism poster & discussion guide at jfrej.org/unraveling-antisemitism and buy a physical copy of the poster at jfrej.org/poster
Unraveling Antisemitism was created via a cultural organizing project facilitated by JFREJ members and artists @onespacefor and @katzcomics . It is a visual representation of the way we twist ourselves into knots when we try to understand antisemitism; a brief historic overview, and; a tool to be used for continued discussion, organizing, and struggle.
Vent Diagrams Israel/Palestine Facilitation Guide now available from @pushcartjudaica
*Tzror: Moving through Contradictions about Israel and Palestine* is a tool for helping our communities name contradictions so we can take action from the overlapping truths. Guide comes with a free Tzror Vent Diagram poster and digital resource download. Made by your friends @pushcartjudaica@sol_weiss_@tamarashap@vent_diagrams@look_loud
Order your copy at
pushcartjudaica.com/collections/zines-1
Counting myself among the lives touched by the luminary activist dramaturg Morgan Jenness @morganjenness who I met in the swirl of Occupy Wall Street, when the OWS “puppet guild” @power2thepuppets was first teaching me what movement family is.
I'll swear, every time I came to help lug the lady liberty puppet around a march, Morgan was already there. Honestly, I remember feeling confused why this older person was so present, especially as I learned about her extremely vast theatrical accomplishments. It’s one of the things in my life so far that I know my younger self got most wrong: I learn from Morgan that all of us- particularly those of us who are committed to putting collective liberation at the center- have to keep our hearts open to new connection even when our lives are full. We have to reach for young people with confidence that they desperately want to connect across generations, even when they haven’t grown the wisdom to know quite how to reach back. Today I grieve my not-quite-knowing.
Morgan loved my All Our Grievances Are Connected poster. She made sure there were copies to hand out at people’s puppets events for years after the heyday of Occupy. I remember her unfolding it and showing it to people w. this air of pride that taught me: when you make visuals well, they truly belong to others. I think it was Morgan’s idea to turn the poster into a maypole, with each OWS grievance on a ribbon — but honestly I can’t even remember for sure. Which makes sense. Morgan was a master of the craft of helping birth the idea from the collective.
If I live to be as old as Morgan (tsu, tsu) then right now, I’m in the very middle of my life, and I am so grateful for models like Morgan of how to be not young. Morgan, I can only hope to love on as many souls as you did, and to do that as free from cynicism as you always seemed. Thank you for your service to the world, and for seeing my corners of it w. so much clarity. In my mind you’re still chanting “we are unstoppable, another world is possible” with that light you had, as if no one had thought to chant it before. I promise never to forget your visionary love, and to be as unstoppable as I possibly can.
This Monday---Join me to launch *Tzror: Moving Through Contradictions About Israel and Palestine--A Vent Diagrams Facilitation Guide for U.S. Jews +All People.*
Piled on the heartaches of the world of this year, many many of us have found ourselves in conversations about Gaza that feel really hard— with friends, family, coworkers, classmates. I know I have.
When my team at @vent_diagrams drew vents about Israel and Palestine a year ago, many friends reported to me quietly that they found the vents really helpful, because they made it easier to stay in open hearted conversation with the people they love about things that felt impossible to talk about. They sent the vents to loved ones online, gave them a copy of the poster, or just remembered to name and affirm contradicting truths in their conversation. It's not rocket science. It's not the whole solution. But it helps.
So over the last year, @sol_weiss_ , @eem.pdf , @pushcartjudaica@tamarashap and I wrote this guide drawing lessons and offering suggestions for how to facilitate conversations with vents. A lot has changed this year, and a lot hasn’t.
Sign up at bit.ly to to get a free digital copy and/or to join us tomorrow for an evening of practicing using vent diagrams! Plus, pre-orders of print copies available at @pushcartjudaica !
Hope to see you there <3
Gabriel turned 4, and you bet I’m the auntie to call for the request of a fish shaped cake!
To the endless optimism of making things with and for the people you love
hello friends! an update for all and an invitation for fellow white people:
If you’re looking for a way to play a role in pushing back fascism, if you’re feeling despair about the world, or if you’re pissed about all the right wing money being spent to make sure the squad isn’t re-elected...
have you thought about getting involved with @showingupforracialjustice (SURJ?)
My little team at @look_loud has been building with SURJ for about a year. It started with conversations about how visuals help us embody what we can’t imagine yet, and the need to visualize the movement of white people who are organizing other white people. Why?
Because we need a world where SURJ is as powerful a force as Moms for Liberty, or MAGA, and I do believeve many many folks would choose that option if we did a better job presenting it. As white people, we have a lot of work to do helping a lot of other regular white people to realize they’re getting played by a sinister elite— and that we have a lot more to win by remembering not to act like we’re afraid of our neighbors. Alongside the immense structural benefits (and I’m not playing those down) being white is many flavors of awkward and dehumanizing, because the very fact of whiteness has us feeling like we’re trapped on the wrong side. We need to give each other tools to see it doesn’t have to be that way. We’re never gonna not be white, and sheesh do we have a lot to win for ourselves when we fight for a world that is fair, kind and affords all people dignity.
if “activist” spaces don’t feel quite right to you but you’d like the world to suck less--- you might like SURJ. They've done the hard work of figuring out pragmatic ways white people can be helpful. You get to show up to do it, and meet other practical white people who also are expressing their hope in dark times by staying in motion. If you’re in nyc—a great way to plug in is the art build this friday or mass meeting this saturday. I'll be there and I'd love to make a banner together and give you some of these silly-but-serious white people stickers. Details at surjnyc
and everyplace else— find SURJ in your town through @showingupforracialjustice
