We Need More Hero(e)s

47 Ways Forward - Strategies for Navigating the Next Four Years

Over the last several turbulent days there has been a growing effort to silence free speech and to criminalize opposing viewpoints. Our constitutional right to peacefully protest is under threat and must be protected.

On September 2, 2025, I was one of thousands who gathered peacefully outside of Trump Tower in New York City. While at the rally, I was interviewed by Ellen B., a fellow Signs of the Time contributor. Below is the transcript of our robust and far-ranging conversation.

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SIGNS OF THE TIME (SOTT): Peter, first of all, I want to say that I'm totally blown away by your signs. I truly am.

PETER: Thank you.

SOTT: I laughed out loud at this one.

SOTT: So can you tell me about it?

PETER: Well, as you may know, there was a man, Sean Charles Dunn, a former DOJ employee, who threw a sandwich at an ICE agent and was chased and arrested. And I saw this image online which I traced, colorized the sandwich, and then photocopied.

SOTT: Oh, wow.

PETER: The lettering, I did myself this morning. He's throwing a hero sandwich. And so the idea is that we need more heroes. Obviously we don't want to hurt anyone physically. I'm not for violence in any way, but I’m all for people making heroic moves, taking heroic stands, standing for the marginalized, the oppressed. Standing for the people who are being most impacted by the terrible policies of the Trump regime. I don't even want to say administration, because they're not administering, they're destroying the administrative state. I made this sign because we need - in the proverbial sense - more sandwich throwers.

And then my second sign (which I made yesterday) was inspired by Trump coming on the news this past week wearing a hat that read, "Trump was right about everything." And I find his arrogance and his lack of curiosity and his lack of humility to be among his many qualities that are deeply troubling.

So I just thought I would do a little rewrite.

I crossed out "EVERY" and added "NO” so that it now spells “NOTHING." And I wouldn't say that Trump’s not ever right. But because he makes such ridiculous comments, saying that he is right about everything, in a way we have to match him.

And this is one of the challenges of this moment. I don't want to be the monstrous, cruel being that he is. I want to be – in the words of another Republican president [George H.W. Bush] – a “kinder, gentler” version of my best self, especially in this troubling and turbulent time.

SOTT: And is there something personal that is motivating you to create this work?

PETER: Yes, I am so wanting to find impactful ways to contribute. So, right after the inauguration, I started going to rallies and found the creativity in the protest signs to be inspiring and moving. They gave me an energy and a boost that I might not have had if I was just home by myself reading the news or doom-scrolling on my phone.

Soon I started a practice of taking pictures of other protestors’ signs. And then, at the end of a long day or while watching the increasingly grim news, I would try my best to re-create my versions of those signs. I found when I did this, I didn’t go as low.

I felt like, “Oh, this could be a way forward.” Because a way forward is in community, and a way forward is in protest, and in finding ways to gather groups of people to stand up, speak out, amplify voices. Because even though we may be out on the streets for different reasons, we are all concerned about the direction of this country. We want to believe in the American dream. We want to believe in the America that we were taught to believe in, that my father and my grandfather fought for when they went to war.

And right now, the way the country's headed under this current president is antithetical to everything I believe, everything I believe. And so I joined up with a group of really remarkable people who believe that Dissent is Patriotic. We started to get really curious about how we could celebrate simple, powerful acts of protest. And what if we started to take pictures of signs that inspired or moved or touched us? And what if we took the time to talk to the people behind the signs and hear their stories? And if we could start to amplify more and more stories, maybe people could feel less alone. Maybe people who are in parts of the country where it is not safe for them to advocate or speak out on behalf of what matters most to them, maybe we could create a platform so they could safely share their signs with us and we could make sure they're being heard and they're being seen. Because it's the silencing of the marginalized, the silencing of the oppressed, it's the silencing of our better angels, if you will, that is one of the greatest threats to democracy.

SOTT: Absolutely. Anything else?

PETER: I saw a sign at a rally in April that greatly impacted me. So much so that I went on to make my own version of it. And now it hangs on my wall and I look at it every day.

I may say this clumsily, but for too much of my life, I have tried to be the good, nice guy. I have had the privilege of being able to stay quiet, keep my head down. But that poster really rattled me and it reminds me daily. What if I'd been alive and living in the Jim Crow South when Black men and women were being lynched by the thousands? What if I had been living in Warsaw in 1939 when they came and started gathering up the Jewish people? What if I was old enough and aware enough during the Civil Rights Movement? Would I have stayed home? Or would I have been out on the streets, putting my life on the line?

I’d like to think that I would’ve behaved bravely, but it’s more likely that I would’ve let fear reduce me. But that’s not an option now. I am determined to no longer live quietly. I also feel it's important to leave evidence of what we believe. And should I ever be blessed with grandchildren or great-grandchildren, I want them to know that when this was happening, their grandpa or their great-grandfather, he was in the streets and he was fighting for a world that I may not get to see in my lifetime as I'm an older being, but maybe it will be a better place by the time they get here as they grow up. So this is an all-hands-on-deck moment.

I also just want to say that making protest signs – and being a part of protest – can be incredibly joyful, too. I've met so many interesting people, and now I’m re-meeting people who I knew in my youth. We have found our way back to each other because we share the same deep concerns.

I don't know how long we'll be able to protest peacefully in this country, but while we still can, there's an incredible opportunity to connect and engage and unite with like-minded people. So many people care. So many people are afraid. So many people are hurting in unspeakable ways. So many people want a better country. And we just need to make protest more joyful than whatever sick pleasures people get from tearing down and dividing and separating us. We need to make sure that Love trumps Hate – or more to the point – that Love trumps Trump.

SOTT: Oh, there's just one thing that came to mind. I noticed that your posters are very artistic. Are you enjoying delving into that part of your creativity?

PETER: I'll tell you that around the New Year when my sons were over for the holiday, they asked me, "Dad, what do you do for joy?"

My answer was, "I work." And they said, "That doesn't count." I said, "Well, my work brings me joy." They said, "It doesn't matter. You need to find something else that brings you joy."

So around the time of the inauguration, for some reason I walked into my neighborhood art store and I walked out with all kinds of watercolors and pastels and all kinds of art supplies, completely on impulse. And I was going to rallies and I started paying attention to protest signs – the incredible creativity and ingenuity on display. And then I began to find this incredible joy in making protest art. And my mother was an artist. My sister's an artist, and I don't in any way fancy myself an artist on their level, but it has brought me incredible joy making signs, learning and admiring other people's signs. And the entire Signs of the Time project was born out of that quest for joy. My hope was, and I now believe, that we can find joy while we're also in the middle of such a fight. And I think that joy is the only way we can stay in the fight. Which leads to the next of my 47 Ways Forward:

#19 Fight with joy – and find joy in the fight.

Special thanks to Signs of the Time co-founder Ellen Boscov who interviewed me.

An extra-special shout-out to Ellen’s daughter, Amelia Boscov, for taking all the photographs posted here.

If you would like to be a Signs of the Time contributor, please write to us at signs.of.the.time47@gmail.com.

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One Final Note:

On Saturday, October 18, 2025, there will be mass protests all across America. Click on this link to find the protest nearest you.

It’s time for all of us who are willing and able to raise our voices and take to the streets. Make signs, make noise, and peacefully make the ‘good trouble’ the late Congressman John Lewis implored us all to make.

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Peter Hedges is a founding member of Signs of the Time and a proud member of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative.

Signs of the Time can be found on Instagram, FaceBook, and here on Substack.