Kat and I outside Torrance City Hall, trying to start some Good Trouble. July 17, 2025.
The Spirit of John Lewis
Let's start by noting the date. It was five years ago, on July 17, 2020, that iconic American civil rights activist John Lewis passed away at age 80. But Lewis' contributions to the fight for civil rights bagger many years ago. He participated in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins and the Freedom Rides, was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966, and was one of the "Big Six" leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington.
Lewis is a hero for his leadership roles — even as a young man — in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States. Perhaps most famously, in 1965, Lewis led the first of three Selma-to-Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where, in an incident that became known as Bloody Sunday, state troopers and police attacked Lewis and the other marchers. Despite getting a fractured skull from being beaten by police, Lewis was undeterred.
His famous quote, which is very much about social activism, goes as such...
“Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”
And that was the impetus for the more than 1,600 action events held across the country on Thursday night, marking the five-year anniversary of Lewis' passing in the best of ways.
People of the South Bay, taking it to the streets in Torrance.
What Does "Good Trouble" Mean?
First of all, let's make an important distinction here. What most of us do in our organized, peaceful, nonviolent protest actions is nothing like what the civil rights protestors went through in the 1960s and other times throughout history. We are in little or no danger at these events, while, as mentioned above, people like John Lewis were getting their heads bashed in, or worse. Back then,. lynchings and assassinations were par for the course for those people who dared to stand up for the legal rights offered by the Constitution.
But let's be clear here: even today, when policies and laws are in place that conflict with our rights, we have the responsibility of standing up to authority to defend our rights. And that's what "good trouble" is all about. You might face repercussions by asserting your rights. You might get in verifying degrees of trouble — with your friends and family, with your workplace, and yes, with legal authorities. If the cause is good, and the laws and actions of a government are unjust, it's imperative that citizens not just accept it. And I can promise you... if you allow others' rights to be trampled upon, the next target will be you, and there won't be anyone left to save you then. Instead, take those steps to save yourself and everyone around you now.
Me in protest mode at GTLO in Torrance.
How Was It?
I will tell you... I genuinely didn't have high expectations for this action event, and I'll tell you why. It's very simple.
The three recent previous events we'd done — like the Hands Off! and No Kings actions — were all very well attended. But those were held mid-day of a Saturday. It's a lot less of an ask to get people to slate a couple of hours on a weekend than it is to get them to hit the streets after a full day or work or school or whatever else keeps people busy on a typical Thursday. I'll briefly mention here that Kat and I have done a number of other evening-based protest events before, back during Trump's first term. They never quite seem to have the pull of daytime events on a weekend.
Secondly, this event seemed slightly less focused than the previous examples I mentioned. While we knew going in that the mission statement of Good Trouble Lives On was pretty clear (as seen below), there wasn't a single target on which to focus our ire to demand change, and so perhaps that would lead to less of a turnout.
"We are facing the most brazen rollback of civil rights in generations. Whether you're outraged by attacks on voting rights, the gutting of essential services, disappearances of our neighbors, or the assault on free speech and our right to protest - this movement is for you. Trump is trying to divide us, but we know the power of coming together."
And finally, when the details were announced early this week, it was being described as a candlelight vigil. That's fine, of course. But I'm not so much of a candlelight vigil kind of guy as I am a "wave signs and march around and yell" person.
Out on the street with Kat, being good Americans, fighting the good fight.
I Was Wrong
Yeah, there were plenty of people there. The people with signs were already lining up on Torrance Boulevard when Kat and I arrived nearly a half hour early. And no, it wasn't close to the size of the No Kings event in June — which was an insane 20,000 people here in the suburban South Bay Area of LA County.
But it was definitely hundreds and hundreds of people, out there in the streets after work on a Thursday night. I was impressed. I think the previously largest evening protest we ever did was in November 2018 for the "Nobody Is Above the Law" cause. But GTLO was definitely much, much larger than that. And frankly, the USA and the world is in a much more precarious situation today than it was in 2018 during Trump's first term. I'm happily surprised that more people are attuned to this fact, and are willing to take action.
A good number of folks gathered around the fountain area to hear the series of very good speakers. Others — like me and Kat, for the most part — kept the good trouble vibes rolling closer to the street.
Long Story Short
The event went very well. Kat and I stayed for a couple of hours, and after feeling like we'd made our contribution, took off. I have to say, the level of enthusiasm I'm seeing in these local events is higher than anything I'd participated in before. I think the reasons are obvious: the existential threat of Donald Trump and his MAGA base are worse than ever, and I think I can honestly say that never before in US history has there been a situation exactly like this.
I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to actively resist Trump, fascism, and the dismantling of everything that's made America great — to whatever degree we've actually been great — for nearly 250 years. The USA still has too much promise to let it slip away, and I want to know that I never gave up without a fight. If enough people feel the same, we can't lose.
No comments:
Post a Comment