‘Good Trouble Lives On’: Protests against Trump policies planned across US

Protests against Donald Trump’s hardline policies, from mass deportations to cuts in healthcare and social programmes, are expected to take place on Thursday (July 17) in more than 1,600 locations across the United States.

Billed as the “Good Trouble Lives On” national day of action, the demonstrations are being organised in memory of the late Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis. From courthouses to public squares, organisers have urged that the events remain peaceful.

“We are navigating one of the most terrifying moments in our nation’s history,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit advocacy group that is part of the coalition behind the demonstrations. “We are all grappling with a rise of authoritarianism and lawlessness within our administration … as the rights, freedoms and expectations of our very democracy are being challenged.”

Major protests are planned in cities including Atlanta, St Louis, Oakland, and Annapolis. Chicago will serve as the flagship location, where a large rally is expected to take place in the city centre.

Honouring a legacy of struggle

John Lewis, who died in 2020 at the age of 80, was the youngest of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. A pivotal figure in the civil rights movement, Lewis was brutally beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 while leading a march for voting rights.

The violence of that day, known as Bloody Sunday, helped spur President Lyndon Johnson to push Congress to pass the landmark Voting Rights Act later that year.

Lewis, who went on to serve in Congress from 1986 until his death, famously urged Americans to “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America” as he marked the anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches in 2020.

In Chicago, the League of Women Voters has helped organise a downtown demonstration with a candlelight vigil to honour Lewis. “We have a DJ who’s gonna rock us with boots on the ground,” said Betty Magness, the group’s executive vice president.

Protesting Trump’s second-term agenda

While the “Good Trouble” protests are aimed at upholding Lewis’s legacy, they have also become a focal point for growing outrage against Trump’s second-term policies, especially his escalating immigration crackdowns.

Earlier this month, federal agents carried out mass arrests at two marijuana farms in Southern California. One farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof during the chaotic raid, which led to a tense standoff between protesters and authorities.

The raids came just days after Trump deployed National Guard units to back immigration agents operating in Los Angeles, in a move widely condemned as an abuse of federal power.

Public anger reached a crescendo during the June 14 “No Kings” demonstrations, which were held on Trump’s birthday and featured large-scale rallies from New York to San Francisco. Protesters accused the president of behaving like a monarch, denouncing him as a “dictator and would-be king”.

Thursday’s protests are expected to continue the wave of defiance. Organisers say the aim is not just to oppose specific policies, but to stand for civil liberties, democratic values, and the memory of one of America’s most enduring champions of justice.

With inputs from AP