On July 17, the U.S. will again take to the sidewalks, the parks, the parking lots, the bridges, and anywhere else that We the People can peacefully protest. This day of resistance is being called “Good Trouble Lives On.” (RSVP for the event in Holland here!)

John Lewis coined the phrase “good trouble.” One of his most well-known quotes puts this term into context: “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.”

John Lewis fought for freedom and equality throughout his life. His activism includes organizing and taking part in the first mass lunch counter sit-ins in Tennessee in 1960, and becoming a Freedom Rider in the South—riding buses through southern states to protest segregation. John helped to create the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC), serving as Chair from 1963 to 1966.

In 1965, he co-led the peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery to protest the policies that kept Black citizens from registering to vote. Lewis and others in the march were physically beaten by law enforcement and vigilantes as they finished crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. That day became known as Bloody Sunday. People across the  U.S. saw photos and televised video of the attack on the peaceful protesters, and protests across the nation began. This led to several events that ultimately resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act, just 5 months after Bloody Sunday.

In 1975, John Lewis was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize for his work for Civil Rights.

John Lewis served as a  U.S. Representative for Georgia for over 33 years. He believed that the right to vote was the most powerful tool any American could have. He was quoted in a 2020 documentary about himself as saying, “My greatest fear is that one day we will wake up and our democracy is gone.”

John Lewis died on July 17, 2020, at the age of 80. On the one-year anniversary of Lewis’s death, President Biden said, “While my dear friend may no longer be with us, his life and legacy provide an eternal moral compass on which direction to march. May we carry on his mission in the fight for justice and equality for all.” On July 17, 2025, we have the opportunity to celebrate the life of John Lewis by continuing to protest injustice and show our support for democracy using nonviolent means.

To learn more about the life of John Lewis, here are some resources to explore:

• Smithsonian article: John Lewis’ Storied History of Causing ‘Good Trouble’
• History Channel article: How Selma’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ Became a Turning Point in the Civil Rights Movement | HISTORY
• Politico article (with link to full op-ed in New York Times):  ‘Now it is your turn’: John Lewis issues call to action in posthumous op-ed – POLITICO
• Video:  Obama delivers eulogy for John Lewis, makes impassioned call for voting rights
• Films available on DVD, Kanopy, and Hoopla through many local libraries
  • Good Trouble
  • Selma
• Full audio interview: John Lewis — Love in Action | The On Being Project
• “Fresh Air”audio interview with transcript: ‘Fresh Air’ Remembers Civil Rights Leader Rep. John Lewis : NPR
• Books (Look for them at your local public library!)
  • March (a graphic novel trilogy) 
  • Across That Bridge, Life Lessons and A Vision for Change by John Lewis
  • Walking With the Wind, A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis
  • His Truth Is Marching on: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham
  • John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg
  • Who Was John Lewis? by Crystal Hubbard (junior non-fiction)

Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash