New and updated Liberal Snowflakes! Now in more colors.

There are new products on our Etsy! Check them out!

Enjoy “Wear a Damn Mask”, “Wash Your Hands”, “Tax the Rich”, “Defund the Police”, “Black Lives Matter”, “Say Their Names”, “Save the Post Office”, and a reworked “Impeached” (updated to reflect history!). Remember, 20% of the sale price will go to charity!

See the individual product pages for more information about each Liberal Snowflake.

Wear a Damn Mask

Link to “Wear a Damn Mask” on Etsy

As tempting as it is to take advice on a pandemic from “that one guy you knew in high school that’s now a dentist” or “the President of the United States”, it’s probably best to listen to actual experts in epidemiology or immunology.

“Can face masks help slow the spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19? Yes, face masks combined with other preventive measures, such as frequent hand-washing and social distancing, help slow the spread of the virus.

So why weren’t face masks recommended at the start of the pandemic? At that time, experts didn’t know the extent to which people with COVID-19 could spread the virus before symptoms appeared. Nor was it known that some people have COVID-19 but don’t have any symptoms. Both groups can unknowingly spread the virus to others.

These discoveries led public health groups to do an about-face on face masks. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now include face masks in their recommendations for slowing the spread of the virus. The CDC recommends cloth face masks for the public and not the surgical and N95 masks needed by health care providers.”

Mayo Clinic

Wash Your Hands

Link to “Wash Your Hands” on Etsy

“The single most important piece of advice health experts can give to help us stay safe from COVID-19 is this one: Wash your hands.”

We have shown our kids how to properly wash their hands and encourage them to sing the ABC song while they do it, to be sure they’re spending enough time on the task. As a result, our kids can now sing the ABC song very quickly. It helps when you skip a few letters here and there. 😉

If believe you can wash your hands better than my kids. I hope you can, at least.

Tax the Rich

Link to “Tax the Rich” on Etsy

According to the Pew Research Center:

1. Over the past 50 years, the highest-earning 20% of U.S. households have steadily brought in a larger share of the country’s total income.
2. Income inequality in the U.S. is the highest of all the G7 nations, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
3. The black-white income gap in the U.S. has persisted over time.
4. Overall, 61% of Americans say there is too much economic inequality in the country today, but views differ by political party and household income level.
5. The wealth gap between America’s richest and poorer families more than doubled from 1989 to 2016.
6. Middle-class incomes have grown at a slower rate than upper-tier incomes over the past five decades.

Policies such as Medicare for All, Universal Basic Income, the Green New Deal, and benefits such as an improved infrastructure and increased access to education become a lot closer to reality when we all pay our fair share. Go to taxmarch.org to learn more and support the cause!

Defund the Police

Link to “Defund the Police” on Etsy

“Q: IF WE DEFUND/DISBAND THE POLICE, WHO’S GOING TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE?

A: Defunding the police doesn’t mean an immediate elimination of all law enforcement, nor does it mean immediately zeroing out police-department budgets. We know that peacekeeping is an essential service. But a transition from over-reliance on excessive, brutal, and discriminatory policing to right-sized, reorganized, and demilitarized safety strategies is the right way to go. We can innovate new approaches to security and accountability that better serve the needs of the people without creating massive gaps in service. We learn from global partners non-militarized ways of preserving safety and enforcing laws.

Q: HOW DO WE DEFUND THE POLICE?

A: Defunding the police is possible: Reject any proposed expansion of police budgets and don’t allow one more cent to fund excessive, brutal, and discriminatory policing. Almost every city in the country is currently rethinking their municipal budget because of COVID-19. We have a unique opportunity to cut the spending of police forces that consume ever larger shares of city budgets, producing billions in savings that can be reinvested in a shared vision of community safety, infrastructure, and recovery that does not rely on the police.

Reducing those budgets can happen through:

– Withdrawing police departments from state and federal grant programs that provide surveillance tech, military gear, weapons, training, and automated decision-making tools

– Denying benefits/pay to police officers under investigation for using excessive force

– Requiring police officers (not cities) to pay for misconduct lawsuits and use-of-force settlements

– Removing police from schools and universities

– Establishing non-police alternatives to 911 calls involving people with mental-health needs or other forms of health crisis

– Repealing laws that hide/enable/excuse police violence and misconduct”

The Movement For Black Lives Defund the Police Q&A page

Black Lives Matter

Link to “Black Lives Matter” on Etsy

“Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”

Alicia Garza, one of the creators of #BlackLivesMatter

and

“#BlackLivesMatter doesn’t mean your life isn’t important–it means that Black lives, which are seen as without value within White supremacy, are important to your liberation. Given the disproportionate impact state violence has on Black lives, we understand that when Black people in this country get free, the benefits will be wide reaching and transformative for society as a whole. When we are able to end hyper-criminalization and sexualization of Black people and end the poverty, control, and surveillance of Black people, every single person in this world has a better shot at getting and staying free. When Black people get free, everybody gets free. This is why we call on Black people and our allies to take up the call that Black lives matter. We’re not saying Black lives are more important than other lives, or that other lives are not criminalized and oppressed in various ways. We remain in active solidarity with all oppressed people who are fighting for their liberation and we know that our destinies are intertwined.”

Alicia Garza, one of the creators of #BlackLivesMatter

Say Their Names

Link to “Say Their Names” on Etsy

As a share of the population, Black Americans are shot and killed by police at twice the rate as white Americans.
The https://sayevery.name website lays out steps to bring about the change that our society desperately needs.

1. Learn and listen to Black people
2. Speak up and vote: silence implies acceptance
3. Give however you’re able to give
4. Support Black businesses and entrepreneurs

Save the Post Office

Link to “Save the Post Office” on Etsy

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night nor fascists trying to suppress the vote stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
These also ship via USPS, so that’s a bonus.

Impeached

Link to “Impeached” on Etsy

I’ve updated this snowflake from “Impeach” to “Impeached” to reflect history. (Yay!)

Donald Trump was impeached on December 18, 2019. The Senate then refused to hear witnesses or subpoena documents. Without hearing evidence, the Republican majority then acquitted him (although Republican Mitt Romney of Utah broke ranks). Afterwards, Trump went on to fire two witnesses (and one of the witnesses’ brothers) for testifying against him.

Although he faced few personal consequences, he is now in the history books as the third US president to be impeached.

Colors

In addition to finding a new and improved gold filament (the previous “gold” was more of a bronze color, so that’s what it’ll be called from now on), I’ve added blue, copper, green, red, and silver text colors. Hopefully that’ll make it easier to match your preferred holiday colors. If there’s a color that you’d like to see, send me an email and I’ll see what I can do.

Back row: Bronze, Gold, Copper, Silver

Front row: Blue, Red, Green

Dimensions & Durability

Snowflakes range from 3.5 to 5 inches in diameter. The flake part is 1 mm thick, with the writing protruding another 1 mm. All snowflakes have a 3.5 mm hole on top for mounting. As far as crafty holiday decorations go, these are probably on the hardier end. I mean, I wouldn’t use them as ninja stars or coasters for hot beverages and expect them to hold up for long, but I wouldn’t feel too bad about putting them within the reach of kids on your Christmas tree, Hanukkah bush, or other winter foliage.

Process

All snowflakes are made of PLA plastic (biodegradable and derived from renewable resources!) printed on my Creality Ender 3 3D printer. While each snowflake looks very similar to its series comrades, there may be small variations in color and surface structure, an occasional stray filament string, etc. We’ll just say these make them more unique.

Inspiration

Who am I to resist a good word play? I decided to make a derogatory barb a positive holiday 3D printing experience. With permission, I used mathgrrl’s Snowflake Machine and selected snowflakes on their aesthetics and printability. I added some positive left-of-center words and phrases that have seared themselves into my mind over the past (very long, politically antagonizing) few years.