Since the January 21, 2017, Women’s March in Washington, DC, I have been actively engaged as a street art anthropologist, collecting photographs of signs from mass demonstrations in response to the 2016 presidential election and its aftermath, an ongoing wake-up call for the future of American democracy. Some of these images found their way onto social media feeds for NY Indivisible, through my own platforms and blogs, and into course material generated at the New School, where I teach undergraduate media studies courses. After the election, some of these students asked in all earnestness, “Are we going to be okay?” My response was to provide easily accessible voter registration links, like TurboVote1 and advised them to join the marches, call their representatives, and engage in the democratic process [Image 1]. IMAGE 1. Ovary Acting (2019) by Kathleen Sweeney; © Kathleen Sweeney. This photo essay draws upon three years of participation in myriad marches in New York City and Washington, DC, along with rallies, panels, call days, postcard writing, and fundraising events, taking note of key linguistic turns of phrase and repeating memes. This exploration tracks the language of the creative resistance that has emerged since the 2016 presidential election, examining the impact of a movement from virtual social media activism directly into the streets. Anyone creating a sign was more than happy to have it photographed, part of the sharing and community-building ethos of this collaborative economy of meaning. “This is what democracy looks like,” a common chant of the movement, also demonstrates the street-side educational elements that emerged as definitions of active citizenship moving beyond just voting to new levels of engagement. The marches provided a space for collective catharsis, part of regenerative dialogues and interconnection in real time, catalyzing action over despair, and a reclaiming of our …