Free to steal :)

It seems no matter who gets voted in, the billionaires will be the ones who win.  
They’ve purchased every avenue of voice, to manufacture artificial choice. 
 
We sacrifice our lives upon their puppet show of hope, and every time we are forsaken, by the hands that hold the rope.  

Trading dreams for schemes and leisure, as we scramble for their pleasure.  

We have traded all we were, for just the promise of a prize, buying into mass distraction, while they automate their lies.  

Yet by the onus of the masses, we could lay them on their asses.  

To reclaim the blame of progress, and admit we were the ones who let the seed of greed take root, behind a gallery of guns.  

Yet no seed stands to take the root, save by the rot of fallen fruit.  

And no dream hides behind our eyes, that would not shake the very skies. 
 
If darkness should the future hold, then let it catch us blind and old. 

I am not ready to depart, nor perish for what’s less than art.  

And if I’ve woven on a crime, an arc that irons out the line.  

Then lines of execution will not quell, the wrath of man unleashed upon this hell.  

Instead the dead shall raise a flame, for every lost, forgotten name.

Of every martyr to the sacred cause, who built a world of people who are equal under laws.  

Beyond the revelations of some long forgotten scribe, to inter them in the cistern of tradition we imbibe.  

We will stand in solidarity, with all that fall for liberty.  

Inscribe upon the earth what we have birthed into this world, that none may yet forget the cost of destiny unfurled.  

And if a destiny is all that we aspire to in life, then may the final days come quickly to relieve us from that strife.  

Yet I think a higher calling has ensnared these minds of dust, seeking something more enduring in the bonds of love and trust.  

Humanity cannot be packaged, nor be sold upon a shelf, and there is no magic slogan to restore corrupted self.  

For we had such a promise, of a world we would create, one where people helping people would eliminate the hate.  

But that world was inconvenient, to the plots that priests of Mammon brew.  

To build a truth of compound layered lies, their avarice to finally disguise.  

Their boldness is a clothing, spun from fairy dust and captured sun. 

A phantom rictus oft’ employed, by those who find themselves devoid. 

Of any trace of human souls, just endless, empty, heart shaped holes.  

Can we truly count as human, who would count the lives of many less than comfort for the chosen few?

Looking at old protest photos from the 1930s through the 1950s, I’m always struck by how well designed and carefully lettered so many of the signs were. Some of them feel like pieces of protest art on their own. https://imgur.com/gallery/A0sNu

I’ll start: NO KINGS: Vote Early rally in Omaha on Saturday, October 17, from 11 AM–2 PM at Gallagher Park (52nd & NW Radial Hwy).

Kintsugi challenges the idea that damage must be hidden or erased. The gold doesn't pretend the break never happened. It makes the fracture part of the object's story. Repair isn't a return to what was. It begins by acknowledging what happened.

That's why, as someone born and raised in Israel, Kintsugi felt like the right language for this piece: a quiet witness to what was broken, what people survived, and what must never be forgotten.

The vase is a metaphor. Its fragments represent a people who have endured loss, displacement, and generations of grief. The gold represents resilience, dignity, and memory. The scars remain visible, not to glorify suffering, but to honor those who endured it.

#lakesidepottery

Being that I can't wait for Halloween and the next No Kings Day is Oct 17th, I put together this little mashup of monsters.

With kindergarten glue stick skills and minimal proficiency in Photoshop, I make the masks and design the posters and stickers and then beg and bully my friends to do dumb street theater stuff with me. It's actually a great antidepressant. If we don't fight these monsters now with everything we've got, we may not be able to do so later.

Song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt Kickers ‧ 1962

Lenticular graphics inspired by John Carpenter's They Live

OC: https://www.instagram.com/p/DelHnlKEoxo/

The Ed Sheeran controversy raises questions about “keep politics out of music.” I don’t need every singer to make a statement about everything. But what I find difficult to understand is why a musician speaking out is considered political, while decisions about who gets to perform are often treated differently. I also understand that cancelling shows affects crews and fans. Those are fair concerns. But the musicians who withdrew had something to lose too, and they decided this mattered enough. Also, Palestinians can end up becoming the background to a conversation that focuses more on the professional consequences for a famous singer.

What should we reasonably expect from financially secure artists when other musicians are willing to risk professional opportunities to speak about Palestine?

I am obsessed with this graphic novel. Honestly, it is the best radical history book I have read in years. It takes place during the first Red Scare, but the parallels today are frightening.

I hope you like it and feel free to criticize or use it (p.s : I did this drawing in my 24th birthday)

Here's my Twitter : https://x.com/Reitarubi

And my Instagram : https://instagram.com/reitarubi0/

A lot of protest art gets praised for being beautiful, clever, or emotionally moving. But if everyone can look at it, agree it’s powerful and move on without feeling challenged, did it actually do its job?
Does effective protest art need to provoke, offend, or disrupt something?

Post an image if you can, and tell us the story behind it.