Across the US, Americans pay tribute to civil rights icon 'good trouble' John Lewis

On Thursday, demonstrators across the US gathered to pay tribute to civil rights icon John Lewis, who was known for his "good trouble" in speaking up against authority.

The gatherings took place in big cities, with Chicago being this week's biggest protest venue, as well as suburbs and on university campuses, and with other events such as film screenings honouring Lewis on the fifth anniversary of his passing.

"We're celebrating the life and struggles and the good trouble of John Lewis. We've learned a great deal from him, and we need to do civil disobedience right now, which is the lesson we learned from him," said Robin Marsh, a resident of the Richmond area in northern California, where dozens, mainly seniors, had gathered near the main train station for the demonstration.

There, speakers took turns talking about the importance of standing by immigrant communities at a time when many face deportation.

"Everybody here is most horrified by the authoritarianism that is happening in our country day after day, and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] picking up people, and lying about them being criminals," Marsh told The New Arab, adding that she's also worried about cuts to healthcare and social programmes.

"It's just layer upon layer. All I can say is we just need to build a big movement. I mean millions. This is small, but it’s happening all over the country," she said. "I think you're going to see more civil disobedience and not cooperation in this country."

John Lewis, who served in Congress representing the Atlanta, Georgia area from 2003 until his death in 2020, was best known for his civil rights advocacy. In the 1960s, he became one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, who challenged the segregation policies of the South.

In 1965, he led a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, later known as Bloody Sunday. At the other side of the bridge, they were met with state troopers, who beat them with batons, fracturing Lewis’s skull.

His words "good trouble" became a slogan in the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and his words again became popular upon his death in 2020 at the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement towards the end of Donald Trump's first presidential term.

"He's famous for several walks in Selma, including one where they were attacked by white supremacists on the other side. And he had such courage, even in the face of violence, not knowing what would happen. That's what we're faced with right now—enormous violence and terror, and we have to keep going across that bridge, even though we don't know what's on the other side," Amy Prosser, an organiser for the Richmond chapter of the protest group Indivisible, told TNA.  

Though Thursday's gathering was relatively small, some protesters found comfort in the small groups that had come together outside bigger cities.

"This is just the beginning, and it's terrifying how much we’ve lost and how much we continue to lose," Janet Johnson, a local resident, told TNA. "People are going to have to find out how to connect with one another on a local level. This is what’s going to save us, is community."