Protests across the country have increased this summer with another expected on July 17 in downtown Kent with a different message compared to No Kings and Free America Weekend.
Good Trouble Lives On, a national day of action targeting President Donald Trump and his attacks on civil and human rights, according to their website, is the most recent protest composed of various national organizations. They will be hosting numerous protests, including ones in Kent, Stow, Akron, Ravenna and Youngstown.
Kent’s protest will happen at the Gazebo in downtown Kent at West Main Street and Franklin Avenue starting at 4 p.m.
As of July 12, Axios reported national protest organizers expect more than 1,500 protests, consisting of 56,000 registered attendees.
The national day of action will be held in remembrance of former Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis. Lewis’s civil rights work included organizing both the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Montgomery to Selma march in Alabama.
Vivien Sandlund, the organizer of Kent’s protest, said in keeping with Lewis’ legacy, the protest held on July 17 will be nonviolent, in line with Lewis’ message of peaceful resistance, which he practiced during his civil rights efforts.
“[Lewis] was always willing to do civil disobedience when necessary and when it was strategic, but he maintained his support for nonviolence and his view that every person is worthy,” Sandlun said. “Every person has human rights and is deserving of respect and care. Even people that are wrong.”
The former Georgia representative was considered one of Trump’s most vocal critics before he passed away on July 17, 2020. To honor his memory, five years after his passing, the protest’s title is a phrase he coined.
In addition to commemorating Lewis, the focus of the protest will be on ending racism and discrimination, as well as promoting voting rights, Sandlund said.
She further describes these protests as a way to expand the right of all people to vote, rather than suppressing it, as well as working to expand the rights of people of all backgrounds.
Nationally, the protests are meant to hold Congress accountable to end the Trump administration’s crackdown on civil rights policies, attacks on minorities and cuts on government programs like Medicaid.
Kent’s Good Trouble will differ from previous summer activism, with featured music and an address made by local activist Kenyona Sunny Park, founder of the grassroots political education and engagement project titled Kitchen Table Voter. Park is scheduled to address fellow protesters around 4 p.m. on issues important to Lewis.
Sandlund and co-organizer Michael Pacifico estimate a few hundred as registered for this protest.
Sandlund cites the recent string of protests as building on each other. She said the struggle surrounding these protests will be a long battle, one that is not a “foot race” but will be overcome with persistence and encouragement.
“[Lewis] was very brave, and he stood up, and he was a young man … he did all this, and he continued his activism into old age,” Sandlund said. “He started as a young man, and so we want to encourage young people to get involved, because this, the future belongs to the young people.”
Nikki Gasiewski is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
