A bright island in the current flood of terrible news and events is the creativity that’s coming out of it.
Here are some of my recent protest signs and posters. I’m also including work from other people in the various communities that are fighting against the current regime. I’ve indicated what isn’t mine and credited them where possible.
The acronym for “All Cats Are Beautiful,” ACAB, is commonly used to stand for “All Cops Are Bastards.” I designed this sign as a fun way to troll law enforcement at protests.
I love these smiling kitties! The illustration of the three of them is from stock content site Shutterstock, by artist Meranna.
Childless Cat Ladies are still fighting!
This artwork is by angiepea on Etsy. The “flash” tattoo illustration style is one of my favorites. From her bio:
“My customers are my community, and as a queer, neurodivergent woman of color, I design to help amplify the messages and values that matter to our shared collective.”
In the 1930s, the Nazis sent agents to the American South to study the anti-Black Jim Crow laws, to form their own, targeting Jews. We invented this race-based kind of terror tactics; this should be more well-known. My text and design.
From “How the Nazis Were Inspired by Jim Crow” on History.com:
“In 1935, Nazi Germany passed two radically discriminatory pieces of legislation inspired by American laws: the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. Together, these were known as the Nuremberg Laws, and they laid the legal groundwork for the persecution of Jewish people during the Holocaust and World War II.
When the Nazis set out to legally disenfranchise and discriminate against Jewish citizens, they weren’t just coming up with ideas out of thin air. They closely studied the laws of another country. According to James Q. Whitman, author of Hitler’s American Model, that country was the United States.
‘America in the early 20th century was the leading racist jurisdiction in the world,” says Whitman, who is a professor at Yale Law School. “Nazi lawyers, as a result, were interested in, looked very closely at, [and] were ultimately influenced by American race law.'”
I saw this phrase in kitty photos and illustrations on the “Cat Ladies For America” Discord server—I think they had a call for submissions. I missed that but I did my own anyway!
If you’re not on Discord, go to https://www.instagram.com/catladiesforamerica/ to see what they’re up to.
This striking illustration on the “Cat Ladies For America” Discord server originally caught my eye. It’s by superbly talented and extremely prolific artist Ryan Conners.
Her bio on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/kilkennycat_art/):
“Art & photos © Ryan Conners. Powered by copious amounts of coffee. Left-handed. I paint cats est ’04.”
Her T-shirts are available here and her Etsy shop is here.
Conner’s art has grown increasingly political over the years. E.g., compare this sweet illustration from the beginning of her T-shirt history to the powerful anti-ICE illustration at left.
Good kitty! “Chinga la Migra” is Spanish for “Fuck ICE,” and this cat is showing us the way to knock the Vases of Oppression off the Mantelpieces of Life.
The headline and cat illustration are by DesignStoreEmily on Etsy. I changed the typeface and format and added color.
I used this design on one side of a protest sign for a rally and march for trans rights, especially for kids, in San Francisco on February 21, 2026.
“Rainbow Families Action has organized a protest to pressure the candidates at the California Democratic Convention to defend trans rights and gender-affirming care, especially for our kids.”
This design is based on an image by BiasAndBourbon on Etsy.
This design was popularized on a T-shirt worn by actor David Tennant in support of trans rights and his nonbinary child, Wilfred. The original artwork was created by Canadian designer Steve Brocksom but is everywhere now.
I used this design on the other side of the sign for the trans rights protest above.
I made these designs for my sister Denise, for her to print out and take to a protest for civil rights. It honors the late Congressional Representative John Lewis, a Civil Rights Movement titan. Lewis’ “good trouble” message is at the heart of so much of our current political activism.
I made this design for a different sister, Sarah, for her to print out and take to the first “No Kings” protest on June 14, 2025. She came up with the great idea of using the “White King chess piece” artwork by the renowned British illustrator Sir John Tenniel for Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”
John Tenniel provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the 1865 published version of the book. Tenniel was an accomplished artist and political cartoonist.
“Carroll’s text was often light on description, and Tenniel invented his own characterisations, drawing from a vast range of sources, including fine art, natural history, heraldry, caricature and his previous work for Punch. Once committed to paper, the now famous illustrations were carved into woodblocks by engravers, and electrotype copies made to be used by the publishers Macmillan for printing. The praise from critics and readers following publication was unanimous.
— The V&A museum on Tenniel’s illustrations for the novel.”
From Tenniel’s main Wikipedia page, with reference to his political cartoons in Punch, a British weekly magazine of humor and satire established in 1841: “He furthered political and social reform through satirical, often radical, and at times vitriolic images of the world.” He nevertheless found time to create illustrations of the Irish as drunken subhumans—I take this personally as that’s half my heritage.
I found the image on the left and revamped the type and added color. The “Queers Bash Back” concept goes back at least as far as the 1980s ACT UP political movement, but so far I haven’t been able to find who came up with this particular design. The closest to a history is a thread about the above poster, seen in East Sacramento, CA and reported on Reddit here.
The inverted pink triangle has long been a symbol for the queer communities; it originally came from the badge that the Nazis forced homosexual men to wear in the concentration camps. The three arrows pointing down and to the left reference the symbol for the Iron Front, a Weimar Germany-era anti-Nazi political group, now used as an anti-Nazi and anti-fascist icon. I have a post about the design here.
This poster honoring pioneering trans, queer and sex worker activist Marsha P. Johnson was created by political artist, illustrator and designer Micah Bazant. It’s from 2013 but it’s so powerful I want to include it here.
The type at the top reads: “No Pride for Some of Us without Liberation for All of Us.” The type across her blouse reads: “Marsha ‘Pay it No Mind’ Johnson was a mother of the trans + queer liberation movement. She dedicated her life to helping trans youth, sex workers and poor and incarcerated queers. We honor her legacy by supporting trans women of color to LIVE + LEAD.”
From Bazant’s website at https://www.micahbazant.com/about:
“Bazant is a white, disabled, trans, timtum, anti-zionist jew. They are a settler living on Ohlone land and love growing food, reading speculative fiction, and admiring caterpillars.”
About the artwork, from https://www.micahbazant.com/marsha-p-johnson:
“This piece was created during Pride 2013, when almost no one remembered Marsha P. Johnson, one of the mothers of the trans and queer liberation movement. I created it as a celebration of her life and legacy, and an expression of rage at the white supremacist corporate appropriation of Pride.
This poster was inspired by the research of Tourmaline, who first popularized Marsha’s legacy for new generations. To learn more about Marsha, watch Pay It No Mind – The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson. This image is based on a photo by Marsha’s friend, Randy Wicker, with permission.
The phrase “No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us” was originally written by me, but has become globally attributed to Marsha. This attribution has made it much more meaningful and powerful for trans and queer communities, and I am happy for her to receive credit for it. I am unendingly grateful for all Marsha gave us, and for the countless other warriors who sacrificed their lives to create space for trans existence.”