Visual thinking for the resistance
In times like these we can both feel despair and take action. There’s a spectrum of responses ranging from calling our political representatives; to silently holding signs of protest during the SOTU; to actual noisy, messy, in-person large-crowd protests. For the purpose of communicating information on the cultural and political zeitgeist, visual thinkers have design and illustration tools in their back pocket.
Political cartoonists are one type of visualizer with a long and impactful history. Two examples come to mind. The first is Dr. Suess – he didn’t only pen tongue-twisters for children or invent the sage Lorax as a warning about the consequences of unchecked economic growth and consumerism. First he was a political cartoonist “who spent the early 1940s peeling back the polite veneer of American nationalism to expose the rot underneath. Before he was rhyming about cats in hats, Theodor Seuss Geisel was ripping into isolationists, Nazi sympathizers, and the elites who thought Hitler was just a strong leader with some unfortunate PR problems.” Secondly, the French leftist satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which has been mired in controversy to the point of inciting extreme violence for its unflinching anti-right-wing political cartoons.
Even simple visuals can hold a lot of power.
But people who are visual explainers are different than cartoonists like Dr. Suess, or activist/street artists such as Shepard Fairey or Bansky in that they use doodles to explain complex subjects – like economic processes or healthcare data – in a simple way. Here are three whiteboard warriors I admire:
- Robert Reich (no relation to me), former Secretary of Labor and current professor, author, and political commentator famously uses cartoons to explain economic concepts – or recently to illustrate his blog post, Democrats! Wake the hell up! Boycott Trump’s address to Congress tonight: If you must go, make good trouble.
In his 2012 book Beyond Outrage: Expanded Edition: What has gone wrong with our economy and our democracy, and how to fix it Reich uses doodles relevant to the current political milieu to help readers “connect the dots and understand how many troubling but seemingly unrelated things are interwoven.” Reich believes drawing little faces and little people bring life and emotion to themes that otherwise are a bit dry and complex, such as this example on the scintillating topic of tax expenditures in his 2017 book Economics in Wonderland: A Cartoon Guide to a Political World Gone Mad and Mean.
Reich believes “People react to faces and to bodies that are in motion. They’re curious about what those little people are doing, why they’re doing it.”
2. You also might recall Katie Porter, the former U.S. rep from CA (and current candidate for the 2026 California Governor race) who famously pulled out her trademark whiteboards to take CEOs and corrupt government officials to task in Congressional hearings. “Porter’s claim to fame is her ability to absolutely destroy CEOs in oversight hearings. She does so armed only with a whiteboard, math, and a knowledge of the respective companies and industries that seems to exceed that of the executives she is grilling.” – whowhatwhy.org
Porter says,
Whiteboards are great for breaking things down, so they were key when I taught bankruptcy law. Now, I use them to make issues plain, both for witnesses and the American people. It’s much harder to dodge accountability when a whiteboard is involved!”
3. I first discovered illustrator, designer, and visual storyteller Craighton Berman through his instagram account @nocommercialvalue, “An ongoing exploration of continuous ideation through the daily practice of stream-of-consciousness absurdism.”
In addition to making good trouble with delightful hand-drawn bumper stickers and fliers in his Cybertruck Fun Pack (“…a cynical reflection of the very worst of modern American culture”) is this Dark Maga infographic on his insta page that stopped me in my doomscrolling tracks. It warrants attention because it achieves three prime visual storytelling goals; it’s: 1). simple (I can follow it thanks to directional arrows and other graphic way-finding) 2.) informative (it introduces me to new terms and individuals), and 3.) encourages action (for me, a research deep dive to learn more).
Visual practitioners of all stripes and polka dots can forge a powerful path by showing the way forward through bureaucracy – and autocracy. Complexity can be overwhelming in a world that’s already chaotic. Our superpower is being able to break down convoluted conversations into understandable concepts and issues so they are actionable – helping us move from uncertainty, like a deer in headlights – towards connection and being present, ready to fight.
Who have I missed? Is there anyone else making powerful visual statements that deserves a mention?
* PS: The Revolution will be Visual is a riff on an oft-repeated phrase “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” that originated with the powerful 1971 spoken-word song written and performed by jazz musician Gil Scott-Heron (and more recently alluded to by rapper Kendrick Lamar during his Super Bowl halftime performance on February 9th, 2025). It is about how true revolution does not come from passive consumption but from active participation in real life:
You have to change your mind before you change the way you live and think.” – Gil Scott-Heron
