I just sent the letter below to Third Act, which you mention as the source of a few sample sign slogans. Please remove "Social Security is not a ponzi scheme" as a recommended sign and replace it with something else. That slogan is completely counterproductive.
This post includes the following suggested sign, a suggestion that you should immediately delete because it's counterproductive:
“Social Security is Not a Ponzi Scheme.”
We've known for decades now, since the work of cognitive linguist George Lakoff in "Don't Think of an Elephant", that it doesn't work to invoke the opposition's frame and put the word "not" in front of it. Compare Nixon's "I am not a crook" - that made everybody associate "Nixon" and "crook". Similarly, putting "Social Security" and "Ponzi Scheme" into the same sentence strengthens the cognitive association in the reader's mind between "Social Security" and "Ponzi Scheme".
Please see Gil Duran here at framelab for an larger explanation of the "not" problem and why progressives need to stop doing this:
It's really somewhat shocking to continue to see this basic messaging mistake. We continue to take right-wing language and put the word "not" in front of it and we think that's going to work. It doesn't - it simply strengthens our opposition.
Please remove the suggestion of "Social Security is not a ponzi scheme" from your post. You could replace it with many different slogans, such as "Protect Social Security", "Social Security keeps us strong", "We (heart) social security", etc.
Remember, when you leave your home with your little protest sign--you are not alone. With the anticipated thousands [million+?] of heroic protestors on April 5th (actually any and all days, including Women's March) here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-30-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers (e.g. Brenna Trout Frey, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025), Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Rev. William J. Barber II, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Prof. Lawrence Tribe, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Amb. Susan Rice, Mayor Michelle Wu, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai, Dan Pfeiffer, Anand Giridharadas Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennett, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Michel Zeitgeist, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson, John Cusack. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Jonathan V Last, Sarah Longwell, Andrew Egger, Aaron Parnas
American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto, The Dr. Martin Luther King Center, Bulwark Media, Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers
And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.
* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
Wilmer Hale
Keker, Van Nest & Peters
Southern Poverty Law Center
Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity."
Larry, when I see your list I think back to a graphic from about 7 years ago of a little girl looking up at a painting filled with names of important women in history. Your list deserves to be turned into a graphic
Here's a first thought: First Bold and enlarge each name, then color each name in one of the three primary colors, next fling and drop the hundreds of names on the floor Jackson Pollock style, finally photograph and frame. Title: "Solitarity"
Dear Grassroots Connector, please use my tune in any way you see fit, online, in person, etc. https://youtu.be/Cv13-joqFy0?si=70tzuOBXhiKiv1wL <<In the YouTube description, I stuck an open folder (to be used worldwide) with free soundfiles, printable lyric sheets, lead sheet for musicians, & the Youtube link itself. It also was released to streaming yesterday; as of last night, I saw it on AppleMusic & Pandora, maybe by now it has made it to other platforms. Sincerely, Elena Ciampa in Northampton MA. I'll be there tomorrow!
Print full-sized signs and banners at home using an ordinary printer. Just upload an image to turn it into a sign of any size! Supports PNG, JPG, SVG, WebP, and BMP. [There are lots of free online sites to convert documents to JPG, etc.]
After uploading, you can adjust the printed dimensions of the file, and the Poster Maker will split the image into smaller pieces, to be printed on separate sheets of paper. You can then glue them all together onto cardboard or poster board, add a stick and then go out and help make a difference.
There are so many distractions. People are being inundated with too much info, too many actions and overwhelmingly bad news. We have an amazing set of existing organizations and organizers throughout the country. We just need to point people in the right direction at the right moment.
Three Actions For Now is a simple guide with three prioritized actions every week.
With the help of a few activist friends, we have created a simple guide with three prioritized actions every week. It is meant to be distributed at events, music shows and rallies as a handout with a QR code. The main doc has a link to background and additional resources. Print out a copy, put them on clipboards and ask people to take a photo of the page with a request to send to others everywhere.
I surely know this but this doc is designed to recruit new folks, at events. In fact, Jessica and I exchanged emails about this and she likes the idea. :-)
I just sent the letter below to Third Act, which you mention as the source of a few sample sign slogans. Please remove "Social Security is not a ponzi scheme" as a recommended sign and replace it with something else. That slogan is completely counterproductive.
---------
Hello, I see that Third Act has a blog post up about the Hands Off rallies on April 5: https://thirdact.org/act/handsoff/
This post includes the following suggested sign, a suggestion that you should immediately delete because it's counterproductive:
“Social Security is Not a Ponzi Scheme.”
We've known for decades now, since the work of cognitive linguist George Lakoff in "Don't Think of an Elephant", that it doesn't work to invoke the opposition's frame and put the word "not" in front of it. Compare Nixon's "I am not a crook" - that made everybody associate "Nixon" and "crook". Similarly, putting "Social Security" and "Ponzi Scheme" into the same sentence strengthens the cognitive association in the reader's mind between "Social Security" and "Ponzi Scheme".
Please see Gil Duran here at framelab for an larger explanation of the "not" problem and why progressives need to stop doing this:
https://www.theframelab.org/cut-the-not-why-banishing-one-word/
It's really somewhat shocking to continue to see this basic messaging mistake. We continue to take right-wing language and put the word "not" in front of it and we think that's going to work. It doesn't - it simply strengthens our opposition.
Please remove the suggestion of "Social Security is not a ponzi scheme" from your post. You could replace it with many different slogans, such as "Protect Social Security", "Social Security keeps us strong", "We (heart) social security", etc.
Thanks,
Bruce Hahne (Sunnyvale, CA)
Abd there's one more thing--
Remember, when you leave your home with your little protest sign--you are not alone. With the anticipated thousands [million+?] of heroic protestors on April 5th (actually any and all days, including Women's March) here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-30-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers (e.g. Brenna Trout Frey, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025), Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Rev. William J. Barber II, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Prof. Lawrence Tribe, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Amb. Susan Rice, Mayor Michelle Wu, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai, Dan Pfeiffer, Anand Giridharadas Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennett, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Michel Zeitgeist, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson, John Cusack. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Jonathan V Last, Sarah Longwell, Andrew Egger, Aaron Parnas
American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto, The Dr. Martin Luther King Center, Bulwark Media, Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers
And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.
* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
Wilmer Hale
Keker, Van Nest & Peters
Southern Poverty Law Center
Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity."
Larry, when I see your list I think back to a graphic from about 7 years ago of a little girl looking up at a painting filled with names of important women in history. Your list deserves to be turned into a graphic
Here's a first thought: First Bold and enlarge each name, then color each name in one of the three primary colors, next fling and drop the hundreds of names on the floor Jackson Pollock style, finally photograph and frame. Title: "Solitarity"
PS Seversl diffferent name sizes and fonts
This is very ambitious. Who would like to create this design?
Here is an AppleMusic protest playlist I just made. 1.5 hours of varied genres,subjects and time periods. 2 songs about Boston in there. https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/every-single-dollar-that-you-see-single/pl.u-DdANrRBtaNjo5Y
Dear Grassroots Connector, please use my tune in any way you see fit, online, in person, etc. https://youtu.be/Cv13-joqFy0?si=70tzuOBXhiKiv1wL <<In the YouTube description, I stuck an open folder (to be used worldwide) with free soundfiles, printable lyric sheets, lead sheet for musicians, & the Youtube link itself. It also was released to streaming yesterday; as of last night, I saw it on AppleMusic & Pandora, maybe by now it has made it to other platforms. Sincerely, Elena Ciampa in Northampton MA. I'll be there tomorrow!
Thank you for the inspiration! Music makes a difference!
Here is a free Poster and Banner Maker
Print full-sized signs and banners at home using an ordinary printer. Just upload an image to turn it into a sign of any size! Supports PNG, JPG, SVG, WebP, and BMP. [There are lots of free online sites to convert documents to JPG, etc.]
After uploading, you can adjust the printed dimensions of the file, and the Poster Maker will split the image into smaller pieces, to be printed on separate sheets of paper. You can then glue them all together onto cardboard or poster board, add a stick and then go out and help make a difference.
https://gizmoa.com/poster-maker/
There are so many distractions. People are being inundated with too much info, too many actions and overwhelmingly bad news. We have an amazing set of existing organizations and organizers throughout the country. We just need to point people in the right direction at the right moment.
Three Actions For Now is a simple guide with three prioritized actions every week.
With the help of a few activist friends, we have created a simple guide with three prioritized actions every week. It is meant to be distributed at events, music shows and rallies as a handout with a QR code. The main doc has a link to background and additional resources. Print out a copy, put them on clipboards and ask people to take a photo of the page with a request to send to others everywhere.
It's simple and could be used by everyone.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GeNR6vul2EHsf0MYXh5X4NPEj1EYyT_tlCtNtASLOTM/edit?usp=drive_link
Jessica Craven also produces a reliable, user-friendly newsletter for actions 5 days a week:
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/
I surely know this but this doc is designed to recruit new folks, at events. In fact, Jessica and I exchanged emails about this and she likes the idea. :-)
Thanks, Marla!