A good protest sign is eye-catching and immediate: a striking image, a pithy slogan that is absorbed in seconds but lingers long after the march has moved on. It’s political expression and art, each at their most accessible. Making a sign is both a political and creative act, one available to anybody with a poster board and markers.
To borrow a chant heard often Saturday at the Dallas Women’s March, which thousands of people joined in solidarity with similar rallies across the country, this is what democracy looks like.
Some of the signs carried in Dallas were impassioned calls to action. Others were funny. Many were both. There were original works, ranging from Sharpie-on-cardboard sloganeering to detailed drawings of women’s rights symbols, as well as mass-distributed art for the occasion and re-purposed internet memes.
This gallery, which includes a handful of photos from smaller rallies held Friday night at City Hall and at Dealey Plaza, captures some of the weekend’s most compelling protest signs.
