The Baby Boomer Manifesto

 From each according to his abilities. I was going to wait until the general protests for the fascist military parade on June 14, but democracy is falling faster than I would have believed possible. This is the best I can come up with at the moment. Share it around, download it, print it out, post flyers. 

Cover

Back

Inside mini-poster

If you would like to print out and pass around a bunch of these, a free downloadable pdf is available here: The Boomer Manifesto download.

Mourning in America

Click here for free, downloadable Mourning in America flyer. 

It is difficult to know how to respond to current events in America. As a child in the 1950s I was obsessed with the question of how the Germans - the nice, neighborhood, non-combatant, civilized, friendly Germans - could have let the Holocaust happen without doing anything to stop it. And now I find myself in the same situation, facing the same question. I am 77 years old, my lungs are too weak to allow me to participate in protest marches. So what does one do? One does what one can. Thus this participatory theater piece, which anyone from a toddler to an octogenarian ought to be able to pull off.

Wear black. That's it.

This idea was inspired by a friend, Pam O'Connell, who came up with the phrase, "mourning in America."

And we are in mourning — for the loss of our universities, our civil rights, our best and brightest immigrants, our constitution, our rule of law, our basic human decency.

Trump, among other misdeeds, is dismantling library and museum services, squelching any exhibits dealing with diversity or human rights, and demanding that cultural institutions in America focus on the anniversary of the founding of America on July 4, 2026. The celebration of America's 250th anniversary under the Trump regime looks likely to rival Hitler's most rabid, goose-stepping celebration of humanity at its absolute worst. What can one do?

Wear black. That's it.

Originally this piece was going to focus on wearing black on the dates of all key U.S. historical markers leading up to the grand debacle in 2026. The kickoff date, as shown above, is Paul Revere's ride on April 19. Other proposed dates included ratification of the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclomation, the Civil Rights Act, the 19th Amendment, and so on. In the brief few weeks I've been working on this I've adapted the original idea to simply wearing black whenever the occasion warrants.

Wear black. That's it.

This is a nationwide, participatory theater piece. A clear signal to the rest of the world that not only are we against everything Trump is doing, we are deeply grieved about the state of our nation. We are in mourning.

Click here for generic Mourning in America flyer.

Note the addition of the idea of wearing an armband. This is potentially even more effective than simply wearing black, because mourning armbands have become an anachronism. They are an oddity in current times, and more likely to provoke questions and comments. Happily, they are available very cheaply and in bulk from your favorite online shopping sites.

Mourning armbands

My plan, when not wearing black, is to wear an armband and keep several spares with me to give away to others. So what can one do?

Wear black, that's it.

Jumpin' Trump: Pull the String and Watch Him Go!

 

Jumpin' Trump: who's pulling the strings?

This contemporary take on a diverting little Victorian pull-toy highlights the current president's white supremacist leanings and points to one of the key oligarchs pulling his strings. Take time out from the depressing prospect of the loss of democracy and our entry into a new dark ages complete anti-science, book burning, and oppression of women and minorities to make this entertaining jumping jack. Feel free to give out the pdf worksheet at marches and protests, and to hang the toy from tree limbs, lamp posts, and Tesla rearview mirrors.

A man who is easily manipulated

The pdf worksheet below is free, comes complete with instructions, and is downloadable. Click here to download.

Here is a preview of your worksheet:

Grab your scissors and give it a go.

Trump-o'-Rama: The Second Coming

 

Smashed Trump Cascarone

In preparation for this inauguration day, January 19, 2025, I have rounded up past work to create this Trump-o'-Rama full of fun-packed activities, fashion, and more to help you rage against the night.

Trump Cascarones

Click here for link.

This how-to comes complete with instructions and downloadable pdf to enable you to create these unique, confetti-filled egg shells for your funereal festivities. Go ahead, smash a Trump and feel bitterly better.  

Smash a Trump

Dialogue Pin for Troubled Times: Not My President

Click here for link.

These were a hot item the first time around, and the idea is to engage in dialogue with strangers about what is going on — even if their political beliefs differ from your own. I find it is helpful to carry a few extra pins with me so that when someone asks me about mine and we have a conversation, I am able to offer them one to carry on the dialogue with others. 

The "not my president" pin

Make Your Own Orange Man Voodoo Doll

Click here for link.

Don't miss this opportunity to create your own ugly little voodoo doll and stick it with pins. Two different varieties! This post offers a complete how-to with instructions and downloadable pdf. Come on, you know you want to.

Trump voodoo doll

Alternate voodoo doll

All the Rage: Voices Against Trump

Click here for link.

From the All the Rage fashion line, an upcycled shirt embroidered with quotes about Trump (none of them positive). Time to forage through thrift stores, wield your needles, and start stitching your own protest fashions.

The Voices Against Trump shirt

Bleeding Heart Liberal Pin

Click here for link.

Now is the perfect opportunity to break out your political jewelry and wear it with style. But first you have to make it. You will find easy, detailed instructions on how to create your own Bleeding Heart Liberal pins in this post.

Bleeding Heart Liberal pin

All the Rage: Trump Thaumatrope

Click here for link.

Here is a nifty little toy you can make in a few minutes and better yet, it comes on a postcard you can mail out to everyone you know. Give it a whirl. This post includes a downloadable pdf so you can launch your own toy business in a matter of minutes.

The Trump Thaumatrope - lock him up with the twirl of a string

All the Rage: Snowflake Shirt

Click here for link.

Yeah, you have feelings, you care about others, you believe in fairness and justice and civility. Admit it, you are a snowflake. Turn an intended insult into a badge of honor. Once again, you will need to wield your embroidery needles for the cause (think Betsy Ross). This simple black linen sleeveless top has been transformed into a bold and yet stylishly subtle walking billboard.

Shirt front

Closeup of front

Shirt back

All the Rage: Political Fashion

Click here for link.

This upcycled thrift store shirt is embellished with the seven words highlighted in a memo and follow-up meeting at the Centers for Disease Control under the last Trump regime, advising staff members not to use these words in any official documents prepared for the budget. Laurel and Hardy images are interspersed for comic relief. Again, the idea is to take your beliefs or ideas on the current state of affairs, transform them into fashion, and take it to the streets. Simple how-to instructions included.

Nasty Little Women's Wear: An Evolving Textile Piece

Click here for link.

This interactive piece was done for a gallery show. Participants could write their reactions to Trump's first term on scraps of cloth and safety-pin them to this hand-stitched dress for a 5-year-old child. The bodice of the dress is embellished with embroidered lines of the word, "not."

Nasty little women's wear

Going Forward 

Now, as we find ourselves on the brink of what many think may be the end of democracy, a new Dark Ages, or the collapse of civilization, we each need to follow our conscience and do what we can. In my case that means art, needlework, and installation pieces. What does it mean for you?

All the Rage: Snowflake Shirt

The snowflake shirt - front view

This hand-stitched, heavily embroidered shirt is the latest in the "All the Rage" series of political protest couture, accessories, and tchotchkes. It is also a move to take back the language and make words like "liberal" and "snowflake" accolades instead of insults.

Close-up of front

Yes folks, I am a snowflake. To me, that means having compassion for my fellow man — for women and children kept in cages at the border, for the six-year-old gunned down at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, for the homeless living under freeway overpasses, for all of the noncombatants we have killed and wounded in the many, many wars we continue to wage. Yep, I have feelings, and I consider it a source of pride that I have retained my humanity as the US and the world at large careens down a very dark road.

Thus, the snowflake shirt.

Shirt back

Snowflake 1

Snowflake 2

Snowflake 3

Snowflake 4

Snowflake 5

This would be a good time to let your heart melt a little.

All the Rage: Trump Thaumatrope

Postcards and thaumatrope toys

The All the Rage brand has branched out from couture to do-it-yourself toys! The thaumatrope was invented in 1825 by Dr. John Ayrton Paris, and this simple optical illusion has entertained children and adults alike for almost 200 years. The classic version of this toy is a bird in a cage.

A classic thaumatrope

With a bird on one side of a disk and a cage on the opposite side, one only need "wind" the attached strings and release them to set the disk spinning and, voila, you see the bird in the cage.

A simple illusion

In this version, we get more ambitious regarding the cage contents.

Postcard front with a do-it-yourself thaumatrope

Postcard back with instructions (click to enlarge)

These were designed with the mid-term elections in mind, as a give-away incentive to encourage people to go to the polls. You may download a template for printing up your own thaumatropes at home using this link: Thaumatrope Template. Print them up, pass them out, and urge people to vote.

Two completed thaumatropes showing front and back

All the Rage: Voices Against Trump

Wearing your politics on your sleeve

"Well I have news for you. We're already in a constitutional crisis." - Dan Rather

If ever there was a time to suit up, speak up, and stand by your values it is now. Thus the "All the Rage" series (click on "Politics" here or in the menu at right to see other creations in this series.

Clothing label

This shirt, created by collaging two men's thrift store shirts, is embellished with hand-embroidered quotes about the current president.

"He is a wolverine." - Dan Rather

Shirt front

"Mr. President, we are not afraid of you." 
- Maxine Waters

Shirt back

"Mexico is not going to pay for that fucking wall." - Vicente Fox

Detail

"Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of 250 degrees and raining sulfuric acid." - Stephen Hawking

Detail

"Sorta makes me look pretty good, doesn't it?"

- George W. Bush

Detail

"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges is not Christian. - Pope Francis

Detail

The quotes included on this shirt in addition to those highlighted above:

• It is our consensus view that Mr. Trump in the office of the presidency is a danger to the nation and the world. - Dr. Bandy Lee, Professor of Psychiatry, Yale

• The earth is not flat and climate change is real. Can someone please inform the folks at the White House? - Xavier Becerra, California Attorney General

• I think his remarks are divisive, stupid and wrong. - David Cameron, former British Prime Minister

• Standing up to bullies is the hallmark of a civilized society. - Robert Reich

• I don't like him. - George H.W. Bush

Wearing clothing with a conscience 

Time to go out and stitch some statement couture of your own and if you don't sew, use magic marker!