The late Rep. John Lewis coined the term “good trouble” to describe his belief in non-violent protest, and on Thursday, July 17, “Good Trouble Lives On” protests across the country will honor Lewis and his legacy on the fifth anniversary of his death, including in the South Bend area:
● 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Howard Park, 219 S. St. Louis Blvd., South Bend
● 4 to 8 p.m. at Warsaw Community Library, 318 E. Main St., Warsaw
● 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 117 E. Canal St., Warsaw, where participants will meet at the Center Lake parking lot and then walk to the corner of Detroit and Center streets
● 5:30 to 7 p.m. 120 N. Broadway St., Cassopolis
● 6 to 8 p.m. at Margaret B. Upton Arboretum, 617 Water St., St. Joseph
At the national website for the protests, organizers define “Good Trouble” as “the action of coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change. The civil rights leaders of the past have shown us the power of collective action.”
The national organizers also said that “Good Trouble Lives On is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the attacks posed on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration and to remind them that in America, the power lies with the people.”
Born in 1940 in rural Alabama, Lewis became a close collaborator with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
According to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Lewis participated in the lunch counter sit-ins in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1960, co-founded and chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), participated in the Freedom Rides that defied whites-only policies, helped to plan and spoke at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and suffered a skull fracture when police met and beat protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during a planned march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in February 1965.
Later, Lewis was elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 as a Democrat and served his Georgia district until his death July 17, 2020, from pancreatic cancer.
In a June 2018 tweet, Lewis wrote, “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
The “Good Trouble Lives On” protest in South Bend will be the fourth major protest against the policies of the Trump administration, following the April 5 “Hands Off!” rally, also part of a national day of protest; the May 10 “Youth Protest and Rally: This Is OUR Future too!” demonstration, organized by two Adams High School students; and the June 14 “No Kings” demonstration, also part of a national day of protest.
The first three protests drew crowds of hundreds of people up to 4,000-5,000 at “No Kings.”
At both the national and local websites, organizers stress that “Good Trouble Lives On” is committed “to nonviolence in all we do. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.”
For more information, visit mobilize.us/john-lewis-actions/event/810985/.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: ‘Good Trouble’ protests planned around South Bend area on anniversary of John Lewis’ death
Reporting by Andrew S. Hughes, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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