If you buy this book, Mexico will pay for it. On the cover of a volume called “Trump’s America”
Letting everyone know
Story Roger Childs, photos by Pam Childs
Many Americans wear their hearts on their sleeves and have no hesitation in putting their message out.
In many shops and front gardens in Rockridge and Berkeley, there are posters stating WE STAND WITH OUR MUSLIM, ARAB & IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORS.
Their best advertising carries a message; this on the side of a bus Babies sleep best on their backs alone.
Telling it on the streets
In the front yards of a number of houses in Webster Street there are prominent signs saying:
IN THIS HOUSE WE BELIEVE
LOVE IS LOVE
NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL
BLACK LIVES MATTER
WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
SCIENCE IS REAL
KINDNESS IS EVERYTHING
Powerful stuff in six statements.

Buses go by advertising the facts about how they are powered: HYDROGEN FUEL CELL, HYBRID ELECTRIC DRIVE, ZERO EMISSIONS
There is a very strong commitment to recycling and reducing pollution. All households have three bins and one is for Green Waste.
Churches give out the positive messages as they do around the world: You are our neighbours and May Peace Prevail on Earth. In these troubled times, Amen to that.
Drivers are also given clear messages. From the serious Drive as if they are your kids playing in this street to the delightful Don’t park here, you can’t afford it.
Clever, eye-catching advertising

~ FINDING BEAUTIFUL TRUTHS MIDST UGLY REALITIES Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco
~ On this train everyone is welcome Message on BART
~ WHERE LEARNING MEETS HAPPINESS School advert
~ Stay ivory free and Poaching steals from us all Advertising in a large San Francisco mall
~ Because the earth needs a good lawyer. Earth Justice advertising against polluting industries at a BART station.
Plays on words
There are also plenty of interesting names for cafes, restaurants and shops. Crepevine is a nice one; Lois the Pie Queen is evocative, and Kitchen on Fire conjures up all sorts of interesting images.
Then there are the usual clever T shirts. A personal favourite, with the appropriate pop group and psychologist iconography, is Pink Freud.
Shop names are also interesting and there is a Rockridge children’s clothing outlet we can identify with, called CHILD’S PLAY.