Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble
On the one-year anniversary of the death of civil rights icon John Lewis, activists mobilize for national voting rights.
Activists are mobilizing across the country for voting rights with Good Trouble Vigils, Texas Democrats schedule a week of virtual rallies, Black women’s groups meet over the weekend with Vice President Kamala Harris, and in Georgia the Senate holds the first field hearing in 20 years. John Lewis recognized that, “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.”
A voting rights activist holds a sign during the “Good Trouble Candlelight Vigil for Democracy” at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington on July 17. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
By Jonathan Capehart
The right to vote is under assault in the states and being curtailed by the Supreme Court. Efforts to safeguard the franchise through federal legislation are going nowhere. And Black women are getting arrested at peaceful protests for voting rights. Lewis used to call that particular action “good trouble.” This is why I can’t help but feel that America is once again at what Johnson called the crossroad of history and fate, especially because all of this is happening one year after Lewis’s death.
Video: Texas Democrats Flee to DC to Save Voting Rights, VICE News | 7/19/2021
Governor Greg Abbott called for a special session in the Texas state legislature this month, with items like election integrity, transgender youth in sports, and abortion on the agenda. Democrats are outnumbered in both chambers, and it seemed like a bill that would make it harder for people to vote would inevitably pass-- until they left the state.