Residents of Highland Park, a long standing community of a mostly latino population, gathered at the intersection of the two main streets of the city, York Blvd & Figueroa St., to commemorate the death anniversary of John Lewis, an American civil rights activist and politician, on July 17, 2025.
Good Trouble Lives On is an annual movement of peaceful protests utilized to speak up for violations of rights – held throughout the United States. Today marks the fifth annual John Lewis National Day of Action, which was celebrated with over 1,600 events.
With the current political climate of the ICE raids in the Los Angeles area, the Good Trouble Lives On movement re-amplified the voices of the No Kings protests against the Trump administration’s political agenda of decreasing the population of illegal immigrants through deportation while limiting access to due process.
“There’s a climate of fear,” Jessica Huebner, a third-generation resident of Highland Park, expressed as she described her immigrant friends and families in Huntington Park who are terrified to leave their homes.
“We have promoted exploiting cheap labor, made everyone dependent on it, and now we’re holding the people who have been providing the said free labor accountable when they’re innocent bystanders,” Jessica explained.
“It’s a horrible, horrible thing,” a nearby protestor chimed in.
A piñata mimicking Donald Trump hung on a noose on the tree at the intersection. Below, protestors held signs that read:
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“No kings. No Nazis.”
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“Being brown is not a crime.”
Cars passing by honked in support of the protest.
“This isn’t about politics. This is about humanity,” proclaimed a sign held by a Hispanic mother, with her ten-year-old daughter right by her side.
“Free speech! Liberty and Justice. Environmental Protection!” exhibited a poster held by a Caucasian, elderly woman.
The national movement strives to maintain Lewis’s legacy by reminding America that power and change are wielded when people come together.
John Lewis served as a social activist through organizing boycotts and sit-ins to promote voting rights and racial equality since he was a teenager. Lewis was one of the 13 Freedom Riders who played a large hand in enforcing desegregation of public transportation. Despite the nonviolence emphasized in the protests, Lewis and many other fellow activists were brutally assaulted or even killed. Lewis represented Georgia’s 5th District in the House of Representatives and was a great advocate for peaceful social justice.
“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America,” as Lewis once said.
The Good Trouble Lives On protests are driven by bodies of activists to create “good” noise and bring attention to institutionalized political injustices with nonviolent forms of protesting.
