Getting Into Good Trouble
Honoring John Lewis's memory
Today, the "Good Trouble Lives On" day of action will have been one of the largest coordinated pro-democracy mobilizations of 2025, with over 1,600 joyful and hopeful events nationwide and significant community engagement commemorating the inimitable John Lewis.
What We’re Fighting For
Since taking the stage at his inauguration, Trump has made it his mission to unwind the rights and protections that John Lewis and so many others shed blood to secure. Through an onslaught of racist, bigoted attacks against our Brown, Black, immigrant, LGBTQ, and Indigenous communities, the Trump Administration is shredding American civil rights.
This regime is using DEI as a Trojan Horse to remove services that keep families safe, healthy, and informed. We must ask: Who benefits from such cruelty and destruction? They’re weakening public schools, defunding libraries, threatening the well-being of seniors and disabled citizens, and making it harder for peaceful, law-abiding immigrants to simply live their lives.
Across the country, people wake to find neighbors disappeared into an inhumane, unsanitary, for-profit internment system, where they’re denied adequate nutrition and have little hope of reuniting with loved ones. Trump’s thugs—motivated by hatred and quotas—are terrorizing neighborhoods! We cannot and will not stand by as a rogue administration unleashes the military against its own citizens, beats immigrants, intimidates nurses, and shackles children!
Now, with Trump calling on Texas to gerrymander new maps to disenfranchise voters and steal legislative seats, Republicans have signaled their next move: They’re coming for voter rights!
They want us to cower in fear. To that, we say in one unified voice: “HELL NO!” Silence was not John Lewis’s way, and following his lead, we will not be deterred from what we know is right. In honor of his life’s work and in defense of our democracy, we march!
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
As thousands, if not millions of people, honor the anniversary of John Lewis’ death by getting in good trouble today, we must carry his spirit forward. To remain civically engaged is to embody the essence and soul of John Lewis. He taught us that silence is complicity and that justice is never guaranteed—it must be demanded and defended by each generation. He believed in the power of ordinary people to do extraordinary things through nonviolent action and moral clarity. To honor his legacy is to carry his spirit forward—not just in memory, but in movement. In this fragile hour for democracy, his call to make good trouble is not just timely—it is necessary.
Understanding "Good Trouble" in Today's Context
John Lewis’s call to make “good trouble” remains a powerful framework for civic engagement today. It is not reckless disruption—it is deliberate, nonviolent resistance rooted in love, justice, and collective action.
Good trouble is:
Principled and purposeful: Driven by empathy and clear moral goals.
Nonviolent: A commitment to confronting injustice without inflicting harm.
Strategic: Grounded in analysis, organization, and smart tactics.
Community-centered: Focused on liberation for all, not personal gain.
Lewis offered a roadmap for sustaining democracy through action:
Democracy is an act, not a state
As Lewis wrote, democracy must be renewed by each generation. It demands ongoing participation—protesting, organizing, speaking out—not just voting.
Protect the power of the vote
Voting is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have. Defending it requires vigilance against suppression and disinformation. Make sure your voter registration is up to date; ask friends & family to do the same!
Live nonviolence as a discipline
Resistance rooted in dignity builds lasting change and moral clarity.
Learn from history
Study past movements to guide present strategy—and never forget the long, unfinished fight for justice.
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John Lewis was a hero for this country. I remember He and MLK jr and their voices. John's "good trouble" acts and words blessed us for decades. He is sorely missed, and yet his works and legacy live on.
Amen! Well written and much needed.