In Troy, protesters chanted. In Detroit and Royal Oak, they taught.
Hundreds of people gathered at “Good Trouble Lives On” protest events of various shapes and sizes on Thursday, July 17, in communities including Royal Oak, Troy and Detroit’s East English Village as part of a nationwide day of action on the anniversary of Civil Rights leader U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ death.
The gatherings invoked the Civil Rights leader’s memory while offering yet another venue for groups continuously protesting the work of the Trump administration this year.
The late Georgia lawmaker, Lewis, whose unwavering, nonviolent pursuit of voting rights in 1965 was met with troopers wielding billy clubs during “Bloody Sunday,” was famously quoted as calling for “good trouble, necessary trouble” to fight injustice.
After he died five years ago, national action events in his name began taking place, said Katie Garcia, press officer for the nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen. The group helped organize the national “Good Trouble Lives On” effort along with a coalition of others.
It just so happens that the message of the action days lines up well with the concerns of protesters against the Trump administration, she said. Among the “Good Trouble Lives On” demands are an end to the targeting of immigrants, transgender individuals and social programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid.
‘One big beautiful bill’
President Donald Trump signed into law what he calls the “one big beautiful bill” on July 4. The bill includes stricter requirements for public assistance recipients to keep receiving food aid through SNAP or health coverage through Medicaid.
Republicans say the law ensures that aid is better targeted. But nonprofit providers and Democrats warn it could push thousands off the rolls due to missed requirements.
In addition, Trump had vowed to deport immigrants in the country illegally, but has come under scrutiny over instances including the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in March.
Among the 67 scheduled “Good Trouble Lives On” events in Michigan, as reported by national organizers, was a gathering of more than 300 people in Troy put on by the Troy Democratic Club.
Attendees held signs saying, “We are all immigrants,” “Remove Donald Trump. Reverse the damage. Reclaim our democracy,” and “Justice for all” while lining the intersection of Rochester and Big Beaver roads.
It was “invigorating” and “empowering,” said attendee Tracy Dzendzel, of Royal Oak.
“It feels like we’re not alone in this, and it’s not crazy that we’re feeling what we’re feeling,” she said.
She expressed frustration with immigration policies, saying, “Trump ran saying he was going to kick out all the bad people, and they’re going after hard-working people that just want to make a better life for themselves and their families.”
Some protesters raised their signs to block the pro-Trump flags held by two 16-year-old boys attending the rally. The teens said, “We love everything Trump is doing,” and that they “like that he’s keeping the immigrants out.”
Voter education
In Royal Oak, protesters carried signs but also focused on other forms of civic engagement.
Booths set up in Star Jaycee Park, on 13 Mile Road, focused on absentee registration and organizations like the League of Women Voters of Michigan and Voters Not Politicians sought to educate attendees to combat potential voter suppression.
Volunteers collected food donations for immigrant families in Pontiac, Waterford and Detroit, too.
The drive was its way of honoring Lewis, said Debbie Rosenman, co-chair of Indivisible Fighting 9.
“John Lewis cared about voting rights. He talked about good trouble — the food drive is making good trouble because we’re trying to disrupt the attack on immigrants by feeding families,” said Rosenman, adding: “People are coming out of the woodwork to try to do things to help their community, to make an impact and to speak out.”
‘Not complacent anymore’
The gathering in Detroit’s East English Village, just behind vendors at the East Warren Farmers Market, saw an evening of education on everything from ranked choice voting to local nonprofits to state representatives’ calls to action to John Lewis’ legacy.
Lewis spoke at the March on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr. and, in his later years, led a sit-in in the chambers of the House of Representatives over gun control legislation.
Jane Frahm, 87, of Grosse Pointe Woods, said she cried when he died.
She wanted to honor him on July 17, and did so as all Detroit attendees still around at the end held lit candles in his memory.
Frahm’s attendance was also part of her first foray into political action as she began protesting this year.
“I’ve just been too complacent, and I’m not complacent anymore,” she said. “I don’t care how old I am, I am not going to stop.”
Given that she was a small child during World War II, she’s concerned that history is repeating itself and that people will be targeted because they aren’t the right color or religion, she said. She said that she takes issue with the current immigration crackdowns.
Organizer Jacinda Cason, whose group, Encompass Lives Full Circle,focuses on racial traumatic healing, wanted to showcase the ways of fighting back that are already underway and how people can be involved.
“You don’t always have to be the loudest one to make a small change,” she said.
And in speaking to the crowd, she noted that most signs there were about President Donald Trump.
“There’s nothing the matter with that,” she told the onlookers.
But she told the crowd to look at the history of the Civil Rights Movement, and how change takes focusing on who the local sheriff, the mayor and treasurer are before they ascend the ladder of power.
She also gave attendees homework. Speaking to the predominantly white crowd at the gathering in the majority Black city of Detroit, Cason called on them to have conversations at tables Black activists can’t reach.
She also asked them to download the 5 Calls app and use it to call leaders, saying: “We need to put our foot down on our city council members, on our mayors, on the school board, right? That’s how we make change.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: ‘Good Trouble Lives On’: Metro Detroit protesters invoke John Lewis in anti-Trump rallies
Reporting by Darcie Moran and Nour Rahal, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
