Protest Art in the Trump Era Echoes Civil Rights Movement

An essay on Glasstire examines the resurgence of protest art during the Trump administration, drawing parallels to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The author, who has studied Civil Rights art for two decades, notes that since Trump's first election, artists have mobilized en masse, creating murals, screenprints, and hand-painted posters for marches and rallies. Protests have included up to 8 million people, the largest in U.S. history. Key movements referenced include Black Lives Matter (founded 2013), the Women's March (2017), and the Chicano Movement. Artists like Emory Douglas (Black Panther Party Minister of Culture) and Malaquias Montoya (screen printer, influenced by Douglas) are highlighted. Douglas collaborated with Yolanda Lopez on a 1969 Black Panther newspaper cover. Montoya's work "Mein Trumpf" (2016) is cited. The essay discusses the loss of rights such as reproductive autonomy (Roe v. Wade overturned 2022), ethnic studies programs under attack via Senate Bill 17 in Texas, and increased ICE raids. The "No Kings" protests have united tens of millions across all 50 states against the Trump administration. The author emphasizes coalition-building and lessons from the 1960s, while acknowledging internal tensions like white feminism during the Women's March and recent revelations of Cesar Chavez's sexual assault allegations, leading to removal of his name from public spaces.