‘Good Trouble Lives On' events to be held in SoCal

Several events are planned throughout Los Angeles County on Thursday for "Good Trouble Lives On," billed by organizers as a "national day of nonviolent action" on the fifth anniversary of the death of Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia.

The phrase was coined by Lewis, a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, to explain the action of coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change.

"This is more than a protest; it's a moral reckoning," organizers said.

They have asked participants "to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values."

“From voter suppression bills like the SAVE Act to the criminalization of protest, the Trump administration is launching a full-scale attack on our civil and human rights,” their website states. “But we know the truth: in America, the power lies with the people, and we’re rising to prove it.”

Los Angeles County events include a candlelight vigil at Los Angeles City Hall beginning at 4:30 p.m.; an "Interfaith Vigil for Immigrant Neighbors," at 6 p.m. at the Marvin Braude Municipal Building in Van Nuys and a "Candlelight Vigil for Patients & Against ICE in Hospitals" at 6:30 p.m. at 114 W Laurel St. in Glendale, adjacent to Dignity Health-Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center where activists have denounced what they called the continued presence of Immigration Customs Enforcement agents and contractors in the lobby of the hospital where a woman was recovering after suffering a medical emergency while being detained.

Other events are planned for:

• Santa Clarita, 9:30 a.m., McBean Parkway and Valencia Boulevard;
• Burbank, 4:30 p.m.,  Abraham Lincoln Park., 300 N. Buena Vista St.;
• Claremont, 4:30 p.m., Foothill and North Indian Hill boulevards.
• Pasadena, 5 p.m., Memorial Park, 85 E Holly St.;
• Woodland Hills, 6 p.m., northeast corner of Topanga Canyon and Victory boulevards;
• Long Beach, 6:30 p.m., Bixby Park Annex, Junipero Ave.;
• Whittier, 6:30 p.m., Whittier City Hall, 13230 Penn St.; and
• West Hollywood, 7 p.m., West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd.
• Menifee, 5:30 p.m., Newport Road & Haun Road
• Victorville, 5:30 p.m., 12000 Amargosa Rd

The events in Van Nuys, Santa Clarita and Claremont are being organized by Service Employees International Local 2015, which bills itself as the largest union in California, representing more than 500,000 long-term care workers.

More information about the events is available at www.mobilize.us/john-lewis-actions.

Lewis participated in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins, was a Freedom Rider who rode interstate buses to force their integration, and helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington.

In 1965, Lewis led the first of three Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where law enforcement officers brutally attacked him and other protesters in what was later called "Bloody Sunday." The marches spurred support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Lewis was a House member from 1987 until he died in 2020.

Additional reporting by City News Service.