Activists Honor John Lewis at “Good Trouble” 50501 Protest
Hundreds of activists from Gainesville and surrounding North Florida areas protested the Donald Trump administration at Fred Cone Park Thursday evening in a national day of action with the 50501 movement.
The protest, held on the date civil rights activist John Lewis died, centered around his famous quote, "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America."
The protest heard from several speakers, including State Representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson, President of the Martin Luther King Commission, Rodney Long, and Zoharah Simmons, a civil rights activist who knew Lewis through the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Simmons met Lewis at Spelman College in Atlanta, which served as the SNCC headquarters. She participated in marches and sit-ins with Lewis and was in the room when SNCC would plan civil rights protests.
In an interview with GnvInfo, Simmons described Lewis as “dedicated, courageous and fearless in many ways even though he was nonviolent. For him, nonviolence was a way of life. For me, I saw it as a strategy we needed to use, but he was a minister, so he was very serious about nonviolence. He was very generous, kind and humble.”
Simmons said that if Lewis were alive today, he’d tell protesters to “keep it up and not be intimidated by what they’re doing to us who are fighting against genocide and fascism… He would say, ‘Never back down.’”
Speaking about Lewis’ life in his speech, Long said, “He wasn’t afraid to be on the front lines in the civil rights movement. Through his leadership of SNCC… they did sit-ins and put their lives on the line so Dr. King and others could push civil rights legislation. He didn’t have a problem getting into good trouble when he led the first unsuccessful march from Selma to Montgomery, when he crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, almost losing his life on Bloody Sunday. That’s the kind of good trouble that we need to be getting into.”
Long went on to speak out against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling it the “Big Ugly Bill.” He said, “It’s going to cause 12 million people to lose their health insurance. Families are going to be put on the street [with no] rental assistance. Families are going to be starving because they’re not going to have SNAP assistance.”
Party for Socialism and Liberation member Quinton Cooper said in a speech that the Trump Administration not releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files is a turning point for our society. He said, “That’s been the moment that is the breaking of the camel’s back over time. Even people who are furthest right, after seeing the economic consequences of tariffs… the consequences of constant warfare… after seeing the hundreds of people that have drowned in historically bad floods… after seeing all the people who still have bad healthcare… now they have seen even when it comes to just condemning the actions of those who exploit children, even that cannot be condemned.”
In a speech to protesters, Simmons said, “We must unite all of our progressive forces around an agenda we can agree upon. We have to build alternative institutions, and they should include food co-ops, housing co-ops, free medical and mental health, drug treatment, dental clinics, freedom schools for children and adults, and an electoral project component. If we serve the people, they will trust us, and they will join our movement.”
Simmons said lobbyists in the Department of Defense, the health care industry, and the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee have too much money and influence in American politics. She called for the formation of a third party or a progressive take-over of the Democratic Party. “We must replace these MAGA loyalists with elected officials loyal to we the people, not to money interests,” she said.
Tomorrow North Florida activists will protest the proposed immigrant detention center at Camp Blanding.
