DemDaily: Good Trouble. The Reckoning
July 18, 2025
"Good Trouble," coined by civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis, is the action of coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change.
And yesterday, on the fifth anniversary of the passing of the great civil rights leader, tens of thousands of people did just that -- in Good Trouble Lives On protests in 1,600 sites across all 50 states.
It is one of several ongoing major national mobilizations since Trump reclaimed the White House. From the People's March two days before he was inaugurated to 50501 ("50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement") protests since February, Hands Off! in April, May Day and No Kings Dag in June, and Free America on Independence Day -- people from every corner of the country have taken to the streets in response to Trump's brazen assault on Americans' free speech, civil and human rights.
Organized by over 160 partner organizations and unions, the Good Trouble Lives On protests presented a sweeping rebuke of the administration’s mass deportations, attacks on immigrants and marginalized communities. and the devastating cuts to health care and other safety net programs.
| "Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble." - Congressman John Lewis, June 2018 |
Beacon of Justice
The actions of the day paid tribute to the legacy of Lewis, the revered civil rights activist and Congressman, a revolutionary who dedicated his life to fighting for equality and social justice. He passed in 2020 at the age of 80,
The son of southern sharecroppers, Lewis began his lifelong commitment to a non-violent civil rights movement at age 18 when he met Martin Luther King, Jr. In the early 1960s, he helped lead the anti-racial segregation Nashville sit-ins and Freedom Rides throughout the South. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1963, Lewis, at age 23, was one of the "Big Six" leaders who organized the March on Washington -- speaking before 250,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial that day, alongside Dr. King.
In 1965, Lewis led some 600 civil rights protesters in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. In the violent assault, which became known as "Bloody Sunday," armed police and state troopers brutally attacked unarmed demonstrators, including Lewis, who suffered severe head injuries.
In the aftermath, the incident, which was carried out before a horrified nation on television, helped mobilize public support for voting rights reform, and Lewis stood with President Lyndon Johnson when he signed the original Voting Rights Act into law in August 1965. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the VRA.
First elected in 1986, Lewis represented Atlanta, Georgia for 33 years in the US House of Representatives, where he served in the Democratic leadership as Chief Deputy Whip, then Senior Chief Deputy Whip. In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor.
Today's Movement
The immediate and unprecedented slashing by the Trump administration of all-of-government funding for critical education, social welfare, diversity, equity and inclusion programs. healthcare and indeed -- the illegal dismantling of entire agencies and thousands of jobs -- has served as a stark wake-up call to Americans over the last five months.
Sectors of the same country that erupted in retaliation five years ago after the 2020 murder of George Floyd sparked a nationwide reckoning over systemic racism and police brutality, became somewhat complacent during the safe stewardship of our democracy under President Joe Biden.
As noted by former US Commission on Civil Rights Chair Mary Frances Berry, “We are in trouble. We’re in bad trouble. So what we have to do is make good trouble.”
DemList will keep you informed.
| "I appeal to all of you to get into this great revolution that is sweeping this nation. Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation until true freedom comes, until the revolution of 1776 is complete." – Civil Rights Leader John Lewis, 1963 March on Washington |
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Sources: Washington Post, PBS, The Guardian. NPR, Newsweek. History, GoodTroubleLivesOn.org
