Calm and cool temperatures greated Iowa City residents as they descended on City Park and marched across the Park Road Bridge as part of a series of nationwide protests oposing President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The gathering on Thursday, July 17 was dubbed “Good Trouble Lives On,” an homage to John Lewis, a civil rights activist and long-time U.S. Representative from Georgia, who died five years ago on the same day. Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague began the event atop a picnic table, where he led the crowd in “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the hymn sometimes known as the Black National Anthem.
Then, the large crowd marched through City Park and up and around the Park Road Bridge, chanting, “This is what democracy looks like,” “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” and more. Some in the crowd held American flags, pride flags or in a few cases, Palestinian flags.
‘Good Trouble’ protests sweep the nation
“Good Trouble” protests were planned in thousands of cities nationwide to honor Lewis, including at least 19 scheduled across Iowa.
The Iowa City crowd was upbeat as they circled the block, crossing traffic in full voice and returning near the banks of the Iowa River. Sometimes, Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” roared through the speakers positioned around the park shelter. Hymns or the words of John Lewis also hushed the crowd, who quieted to listen.
The “Good Trouble Lives On” event was the latest in a series of anti-Trump protests in Iowa City since Trump assumed office once again in January. Though only a few people spoke to the large crowd, they highlighted the impact that Trump’s marquee agenda item, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” would have on Iowans on Medicaid, rural hospitals and more. The speakers also echoed calls for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Eric Kusiak, a local nurse who spoke for Indivisible Iowa Johnson County, said that Trump’s July 4 signing of the Big Beautiful Bill “spelled the end to care for elderly family members in nursing homes, hurt rural health care and handcuff families who rely on food assistance programs.”
Calling for justice for Pascual Pedro
Kusiak also mentioned the detention of Pascual Pedro, a 20-year-old West Liberty man who was deported to Guatemala over the July 4 weekend. Pedro illegally crossed into the United States when he was 13 but was permitted to stay under an “order of supervision,” which Pedro’s lawyer said essentially allowed immigration officials to deport him “at any time.”
“If they won’t stand up for our women, for our children, for our rural communities,” Kusiak said. “If they won’t stand up for our veterans, for our seniors, for people of color. If they won’t stand up for Medicaid recipients, for our hospitals, for our nurses, for the sick, for the needy, for all those who have been marginalized, then it is time for us to be the ones who will, to do the work of John Lewis.”
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Hundreds rally in Iowa City for ‘Good Trouble Lives On’ protest in honor of John Lewis
Reporting by Ryan Hansen, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
