nothin Postcards From The Edge Of Westville | New Haven Independent

Postcards From The Edge Of Westville

DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTOS

A placard outside Postcard Central, signals the sentiment inside.

A group of Westville women who have heeded a viral call for White House resistance gathered to create artful messages that will be mailed on March 15, a figurative stab to the heart of President Trump’s policies and claim of widespread support.

General theme of the action uses Trump’s signature phrase.

March 15, a day of infamy historically referred to as the Ides of March, has been rebranded as the Ides of Trump” by an activist known simply as Zack of Berkeley. His international call to action and mission — of flooding the White House with 4 x 6 pink slips informing the president that he has been fired — will not only bury the White House in postal fury, but also stands to break a single-day record for received pieces of mail. The goal is to reach at least 1 million pieces.

Janet Brodie, Linda Barrett, event host Christina Santoni.

The group of around a dozen Westville women, most wearing the ubiquitous pink pussy hats of solidarity worn during January’s women’s march on Washington, brought their best crafting skills to bear Sunday as they created visual messages — postcard art made with bits of paper, rubber stamps, stickers, markers, and determined, righteous defiance.

The collage postcards included images, quotes by famous people, and honest, visceral expressions of opposition. Science is real — Climate change is real, save our planet !!” read one environmentally-themed card. 

A quote by former president Theodore Roosevelt seemed to speak directly to President Trump’s hypersensitivity and distaste for criticism: To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

The postcard-making event, hosted by Christina Santoni along with paper artist and co-organizer Janet Brodie, yielded dozens of mixed media cards over several hours of production. According to Santoni, the group has met before to wield scissors and paste for celebratory purposes, but also for political reasons. Previous art-based actions by the group of friends and acquaintances have produced work supporting women’s reproductive rights and some environmental causes.

Donald, are you listening?

Santoni underscored that the postcard action is not intended as a threat to Trump’s life, but rather a challenge to his ideas, alternative facts, and mandates.” Prime movers of the international effort made the same essential point on their Ides of Trump website : The only rule is no violence, threats of violence, or insinuations of violence. This is about being heard, via postcards. We understand that the Ides of March has a history, but that’s not what we are — in any way — calling for here.”

The massive postcard campaign is not without precedent. According to the online Fallada Project, a movement encouraging ongoing action to defeat Trump and his agenda at the polls,” inspiration for the the postcard project is rooted in the World War II actions of a German couple in Berlin who encouraged resistance to Hitler and the Nazis through their own postcard campaign of local resistance — actions that would eventually cost them their lives.

Ready for the Ides of Trump day.

The Fallada project, like Santoni and her group, will disseminate postcards by leaving stamped, addressed cards (The White House,1600 Pensylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500) around their communities to engage at the local level, and by mailing cards to the White House directly, joining the national and international protest. Participants are also encouraged to post postcard imagery to social media.

Like author James Baldwin, who insisted on the right to criticize [America] perpetually,” justified by his love for America, Westville women engaged in the postcard campaign have focused their critique on a presidential agenda they believe to be anathema to American and global welfare.

The most powerful outcome of our action so far,” said Santoni, is what it has done for us in putting our thoughts and work on paper; refueling, empowering, and inspiring one another.”

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