To call this summer’s political turbulence unprecedented would be an overstatement. The U.S. is spiraling toward an era of fascism, and public discourse is adjusting accordingly. Whether posting online, taking to the streets or for some, justifying their own prejudices, Americans sure love their First Amendment rights. In response to this relentless national spiral, some are using those rights in more productive ways than others. 

The imminent threat of fascism and the rise of authoritarianism should scare you. It is imperative that we use our time wisely — producing unrelated content sparingly — before our conduits of information are entirely dismantled. 

This Trump administration has been acting authoritatively in ways that would be ignorant to dismiss: employment of excessive federal law enforcement in ICE raids, protests and policing; threatening revocation of birthright citizenship; throwing a military parade that coincided with President Donald Trump’s birthday; involvement in media censorship; creating and boasting concentration camp-like deportation hubs; and of course, a healthy dose of racist propaganda.

It is imperative that we use our time wisely — producing unrelated content sparingly — before our conduits of information are entirely dismantled. 

The White House’s X account has fielded Nazi propaganda comparisons — referring to this administration as “The Age of Trump,” or even “the Golden Age of America” in a poster from the Department of Labor featuring a young, white, blond man. In contrast, during the ongoing occupation of the capital by the National Guard, the account posted a thread of freshly arrested citizens on sidewalks — prior to any trial — each captioned “OPERATION MAKING D.C. SAFE & BEAUTIFUL.” All but one of those pictured are Black, and that was surely no accident. 

Extreme enforcement and public shaming rituals displayed on federal social media accounts exemplify the steps in the authoritarian pipeline following the executive order calling for the dismantling of the Education Department. The Trump administration is growing frighteningly similar to the Nazi regime, in which education was restricted, censorship ran rampant and both immigrants and ethnic groups were publicly chastised and shamed. Censorship and a “purification” agenda come straight from the fascism textbook, as well. Unfortunately, for many, these tactics are working.  

During the first Trump administration, progressive Americans seemed hopeful that Trump’s tyranny could be thwarted through cohesive action. After voters made the same “mistake” a second time, hope shifted toward anger and fear that we have reached a point of no return. 

During the winter following Trump’s inauguration, people worried about whether public action would be worth it again, and faced a litigious fear that pushed them toward compliance.

Faith in demonstrations wavered copiously throughout this presidential year too: During the winter following Trump’s inauguration, people worried about whether public action would be worth it again, and faced a litigious fear that pushed them toward compliance. Before and during the summer, faith was restored as political battles reached internationally threatening heights and more insight was gained on how protests work. 

“Why Civil Resistance Works” by Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan is a book that debunks the “5% rule,” a theory stating that 5% of a population must participate in civil resistance to incur success. Chenoweth and Stephan divulged that the necessary percentage is more like 3.5%. No Kings Day, the nationwide protest against Trump’s monarchical path (largely in response to his “birthday parade” and its similarities to Hitler’s), yielded a confirmed estimated count of 4-6 million — around 1.2% to 1.8% of the U.S. population — with some unconfirmed protest organizations claiming there were over 13 million participants — well over 3.5% of the U.S. population. In theory, it should have been enough to at least begin some productive conversations or, in the best-case scenario, to actually begin making change. So, what did we do wrong?

Unfocused, gimmicky protest signs like “Trump rigged the Super Bowl” certainly did not help. Political action must be taken seriously and must involve outward education to spur any desired change. Many protest signs lean into irony or absurdity, sometimes at the expense of real messaging. Some fetishize, romanticize, or make a jest of serious, history-defining causes, detracting from the spread of factual or moral awareness. 

While humor is necessary for things to be palatable and subsequently acknowledged, there is a delicate line between making light of a situation and taking it seriously enough to enact change. With fascism openly on the rise, it is imperative that we name it for what it is. Sugarcoating the crisis only delays the public reckoning we need — and time is running out. As things get worse and political issues get personal, it is easy to swing to either side of the emotional spectrum, but balance is what we all need, and that balance must be realized quickly for the sake of the country. 

Political action must be taken seriously and must involve outward education to spur any desired change.

Some protest signs I have seen on my feed poke fun at seriously accountable parties rather than exposing what they have done, offering shallow retorts in place of messages that are morally thought-provoking, factually informational or, at the very least, expressing blatant opposition. 

A popular sign I saw bouncing around read “You sucked in Home Alone 2,” in reference to Trump’s cameo in the film. I have no idea what the point of this sign is. If a child or misinformed person were to see that, they might feel like the demonstration’s cause is rooted in something trivial — like movies — rather than human rights.

An X user @thrasherxy posted another photo from a protest that circulated far and wide. Two protesters each held signs while marching. The first read “ICE gets no pussy,” and the second read “Free Palestine.” 

“Free Palestine” has a clear message and takes on an appropriate tone, allowing uninitiated onlookers to immediately grasp the purpose of the demonstration and possibly compelling viewers to do their research on the subject (i.e., “Who or what is Palestine being freed from?”). “ICE gets no pussy” implies to an uninitiated onlooker that the demonstration is against ICE because of their sexual activity. The severity of the message is lost, and the onlooker’s questions are answered in all the wrong ways (i.e., “Why is this demonstration protesting ICE? Oh right, because they ‘get no pussy.’”). 

Activists need to revisit the painfully gimmicky “I understand that I will never understand, however, I stand (with you)” slogan that was endlessly reposted in 2020. Although it was corny (and sometimes misused), it did share the sentiment that extending support to a group requires empathy for their suffering, understanding that it is unique to that group and treating it accordingly. 

We should be angry, and we should be allowing others who see it to understand our anger, too.

Even in what was probably my first ever protest — the 2018 Women’s March — I remember reading a sign that read “Trump listens to Macklemore” and thinking to myself, “What’s that got to do with anything?”  We should be angry, and we should be allowing others who see it to understand our anger, too.

Especially now, the message has not proven timeless. Macklemore has since become a staunch, outspoken supporter of Palestinian liberation, and subsequently, could not be aligned with Trump.

The dramatic abridgement of disruptive measures is being pushed to an absurd extreme: treating civil resistance as something romantic or even erotic. 

I have somehow seen multiple videos of proposals taking place at protests, a practice that some social media users diagnosed as a symptom of gross white ignorance. In moments like these, that tacky 2020 slogan proves unexpectedly useful once again. Had these people considered that the whole purpose of protests is to act for struggling parties and not for themselves, they would have thought twice before exhibiting such gross disrespect. 

X user @tylerduran21 shared similar sentiments: “their priv(i)lege makes them politically ignorant and they think oppre(s)sion is a joke. The same way that white people were making signs with BBC jokes on them during the BLM protests the whole point is to show what you’re standing up against, we need to be taken seriously.” 

Among others, I have seen signs like “Don’t deport the Latina baddies,” and even TikToks and Instagram Reels that blatantly fetishize deportation through fantasized storylines, as if human rights violations are on par with fan fiction. It is nothing short of disgusting. 

On a less extreme scale, humor and satirization should still be used not just for attention, but to really make a point with the severity of the subject in mind. There is a huge difference between “ICE gets no pussy” or “Trump listens to Macklemore” and “We can’t have a friendly neighborhood Spiderman without a neighborhood.” The former two read as taunting and unrelated to any real grievances. The last contains both a humorous reference and a concern for communities ravaged by ICE. The Spiderman-themed sign does not poke fun at the issues or provide unrelated reasoning, but instead uses a well-known reference as an emotional appeal to make certain issues both more palatable and — the crucial part — more understandable to a wider audience. 

Protesting can and should be for everyone, as long as participants believe in what they represent and act with respect. If the point is just bodies, then we have them, but presence alone does not make the message itself clear. If the only way to break through is with jest, we risk complicity and distraction. To resort to jokes is to cower from the issues at hand. We must attack these threats head-on before censorship takes away our agency.