Originally reported: USA Today
CHICAGO — Civil rights activist and Georgia congressman John Lewis was known for saying he got into “good trouble” by using peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice. Now, in 1,600 cities and towns across the country, protesters are planning to make similar “good trouble” on July 17, the fifth anniversary of Lewis’ death.
“What we want the nation to know is that his legacy lives on, that the good trouble that he got into and that he fought for is not over,” said Barbara Arnwine, co-leader of the Transformative Justice Coalition. “We are absolutely focused on making sure that our voices throughout the country are raised.”
Protesters are turning out for a variety of reasons, including their opposition to the recently passed budget bill, attacks on women’s rights and diversity, and immigration enforcement, such as President Donald Trump‘s decision to call out the California National Guard to quell pro-immigrant protests in Los Angeles.
“We have a president that is deploying (the) National Guard to actually stop peaceful protests, and it’s making things more dangerous for people, and making things harder for people who just want to stand up, protect their neighbors and speak out, which is something that we’re allowed to do,” said Allison Pulliam, co-director of Declaration for American Democracy Coalition.
A White House spokesperson said this week that Trump is doing what he promised to do on the campaign trail.
“Nearly 80 million Americans gave President Trump a historic mandate to Make America Great Again and he is delivering on that promise in record time,” said White House spokesperson Liz Huston.
‘It’s not America’
About 250 people turned out Thursday evening outside the Nevada Legislature in Carson City to protest Trump administration policies.
Wearing a hat reading “Latina,” Raquel Knecht said she attended the rally because of what she says Donald Trump is doing with immigration enforcement.
“I’m here to show people that just because you have brown skin doesn’t mean you are here illegally,” she said. “He promised to deport the criminals and he’s not,” Knecht said of Trump. “He’s taking innocent people. It’s not America.”
– Mark Robison
Food drive and movie screening
Rather than protest or rally in Cathedral City, California, local organizers arranged a food drive and a screening of the documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble.”
According to Katy Dillon of Democrats of the Desert, there were 160 registrations for the 10 a.m. screening, and it was sold out.
“We thought it was going to be super hot out today. A lot of places are doing John Lewis protests and rallies, but because of the heat here, we decided to do this instead to get his message out that way,” Dillon said.
More than 100 events were scheduled to take place in California.
-Brian Blueskye
Fighting the same fight
For nearly 50 years, Shirley Woolaway, of Naples, has fought against human injustice.
Active since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Woolaway said she is battling for the same cause more than 50 years later.
“I think it’s so sad that we have to still be protesting. What is happening now is, well, I’m against almost everything that is happening. It’s sad. It’s very sad,” Woolaway said as another fellow protester sang out the lyrics of “This Land Is Your Land” to the crowd of more than 100 marchers.