PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Community members made "good trouble" at Park Square on Thursday in honor of late U.S. Rep. John Lewis. 

 

"Good Trouble Lives On is a national day of non-violent action to respond to attacks that are being posed on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration, and to remind them that in America, the power lies with the people," emcee Sonya Bykofsky said. 

 

"… John Lewis coined the phrase 'good trouble,' and he used that to describe the necessary disruptions that lead to positive change. That's why we're here. That is our goal. This is the anniversary of his passing so we are here, again, to defend our democracy, to carry on his legacy, from voter suppression bills like the SAVE Act to the criminalization of protest, the Trump administration has launched a full-scale attack on our civil and human rights, but we know again that we will win if we stand together." 

 

The Georgian congressman passed at the age of 80 in 2020. Shirley Edgerton of the Berkshire NAACP relayed Lewis' experience of constant fear as a child because of signs that said, "No colored boys," and "No colored girls." 

 

"His parents and grandparents used to tell him, 'Don't get in trouble.' Nevertheless, as a young man, he was inspired to activism by the Montgomery Bus Boycott that started when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat," she said.

 

"He said she inspired us to find a way to get in the way, to get in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble." 

 

She explained that Lewis risked his life countless times by organizing voter registration drives, sit-ins at lunch counters, and was beaten and arrested while challenging Jim Crow segregation in the South.