5 years after civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis handed away, communities are mobilizing to make some “good bother” 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 Hassle Lives On” Day of Motion goal to encourage and be certain that Black and different impacted communities’ considerations 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 Hassle Lives On” Day of Motion the group stands agency towards the surge in assaults on elementary 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 stated. “However slightly choosing up the baton of what he stood for and working ahead with it, constructing and transferring towards the beloved group.”
Organizers estimate over 1,600 occasions throughout the nation, with the principle occasion occurring in Chicago, Ailing. Anchor occasions will happen in Atlanta, Ga, St. Louis, Mo., Annapolis, Md., and Oakland, Calif. Communities have organized every part from marches and rallies to mass mobilizations and different movement-building occasions. Whereas occasions might 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 Hassle Lives On” coalition known 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 packages 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 plenty of people that imagine in one thing higher for his or her households and communities. The calls for additionally comply with Lewis’ urging for folks to assist construct the Beloved Neighborhood.
In an op-ed revealed within the New York Occasions shortly after his loss of life, Lewis inspired People to return collectively and acknowledge the continued work required to maintain democracy.
“Democracy will not be a state. It’s an act, and every technology should do its half to assist construct what we known 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 bother, crucial bother.”
Echoing the same sentiment throughout Tuesday’s press convention, League of Ladies Voter’s CEO Celina Stewart gave her tackle what it meant to get into “good bother.”
“It implies that to do good, typically you need to take dangers and you need to rock the boat, be just a little unruly, put politeness apart, and battle for what you imagine in,” Stewart stated. “Even when it means you get into bother.”
The League of Ladies Voters plans to mobilize 8.5 million voters between now and November 2026, with a give attention to 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 Employees for Black Voters Matter, inspired folks to affix a “Good Hassle Lives On” motion, but additionally to grasp that all of us have a task to play past Thursday’s actions. Recognizing the significance of 2025 as a neighborhood election cycle, Albright known 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 partaking and ensuring America continues to turn out to be,” she stated. “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 sources. However it’s going to take our change of our coronary heart, and it begins this Thursday.”
SEE ALSO:
Defending Protest Rights And Dissent Amid Trump’s Assault On Freedom
Black Voters Matter Kicks Off Freedom Experience For Voting Rights On Juneteenth
‘Good Hassle Lives On’ Actions Honor John Lewis, Encourage Civil Rights Activism
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