5 years after civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis handed away, communities are mobilizing to make some “good hassle” on Thursday, July 17. Greater than a symbolic nod to Lewis and his dedication to voting rights and civil rights extra broadly, organizers of the “Good Bother Lives On” Day of Motion goal to encourage and be sure that Black and different impacted communities’ issues and wishes will not be drowned out by the brand new wave of authoritarianism.
Led by a coalition of civil rights and pro-democracy teams, together with Transformative Justice Coalition, Black Voters Matter, and The Management Convention on Civil and Human Rights the “Good Bother Lives On” Day of Motion the group stands agency in opposition to the surge in assaults on basic freedoms, fairness, and violations of civil liberties.
Throughout a press convention, Transformative Justice Coalition co-leader Darryl Jones defined that Lewis’ household didn’t need the anniversary of his passing to be a easy commemoration.
“We requested their permission to do that…their situation was they didn’t need it to be a somber remembrance of his life,” Jones mentioned. “However reasonably selecting up the baton of what he stood for and working ahead with it, constructing and transferring towards the beloved neighborhood.”
Organizers estimate over 1,600 occasions throughout the nation, with the primary occasion occurring in Chicago, Ailing. Anchor occasions will happen in Atlanta, Ga, St. Louis, Mo., Annapolis, Md., and Oakland, Calif. Communities have organized all the pieces from marches and rallies to mass mobilizations and different movement-building occasions. Whereas occasions could differ throughout communities, there’s a throughline of dedication to carrying ahead the battle for racial justice, voting rights, and dignity for all.
The “Good Bother Lives On” coalition referred to as for an finish to the next:
- The Trump administration’s excessive crackdown on our civil rights, from our proper to vote to our proper to protest and communicate freely.
- Politicians and lawmakers focusing on Black and Brown People, immigrants, trans folks, and others with hateful, harmful insurance policies.
- The rich and well-connected slashing applications that working folks depend on – together with Medicaid, SNAP, and Social Safety – to line their very own pockets.
In some ways, the group’s calls for function a problem to the lots of people that consider in one thing higher for his or her households and communities. The calls for additionally observe Lewis’ urging for folks to assist construct the Beloved Neighborhood.
In an op-ed printed within the New York Instances shortly after his demise, Lewis inspired People to come back collectively and acknowledge the continued work required to maintain democracy.
“Democracy just isn’t a state. It’s an act, and every technology should do its half to assist construct what we referred to as the Beloved Neighborhood, a nation and world society at peace with itself,” wrote Lewis. “Odd folks with extraordinary imaginative and prescient can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I name good hassle, obligatory hassle.”
Echoing an analogous sentiment throughout Tuesday’s press convention, League of Girls Voter’s CEO Celina Stewart gave her tackle what it meant to get into “good hassle.”
“It implies that to do good, generally it’s important to take dangers and it’s important to rock the boat, be somewhat unruly, put politeness apart, and battle for what you consider in,” Stewart mentioned. “Even when it means you get into hassle.”
The League of Girls Voters plans to mobilize 8.5 million voters between now and November 2026, with a concentrate on returning energy to the fingers of the folks, invoking sentiments of assorted state-level Black-led power-building organizations throughout the nation.
April Albright, Authorized Director and Chief of Workers for Black Voters Matter, inspired folks to hitch a “Good Bother Lives On” motion, but in addition to know that all of us have a task to play past Thursday’s actions. Recognizing the significance of 2025 as an area election cycle, Albright referred to as on folks to concentrate to the native degree “as a result of energy is birthed from the bottom up.”
“We’d like each single side of our communities actively participating and ensuring America continues to turn out to be,” she mentioned. “Let Thursday be a reminder that we nonetheless should make America turn out to be that multicultural Democracy, the place all of us share in energy and assets. Nevertheless it’s going to take our change of our coronary heart, and it begins this Thursday.”
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