‘Good Trouble’ protests around Charlotte region honor John Lewis’ legacy
Dozens of people gathered in midtown Thursday morning, toting handmade signs and American flags. The group, met with consistent honking from supporting traffic, waved signs reading “honk for democracy” and “stop ICE.”
The gathering at the intersection of Kenilworth Avenue and Pearl Park Way was among 25 peaceful rallies taking place on July 17 around the Charlotte area organized by Indivisible Charlotte, one of many groups participating in the Good Trouble Lives On national day of action.
Borrowing the phrase coined by the late Congressman John Lewis, “Good Trouble Lives On” rallies were created in response to changes made by the Trump administration which organizers describe as “attacks on our civil and human rights”
“Our purpose is to stand in unity gathered against the authoritarian attacks on our most basic freedoms,” said Carolyn Eberly, founding director of Indivisible Charlotte. “We are demanding that we have a government that works for the people, that invests in people — not criminalization — and does not cut the very programs that support people and make us safe.”
The group invited those angered by rollbacks on things such as voting rights, essential services and free speech to join them July 17, the fifth anniversary of Lewis’ death. The rallies, which took place simultaneously in south Charlotte, the Lake Norman area and Gastonia, are a way to honor Lewis’ legacy of nonviolent resistance and fight for civil and human rights, organizers said.
Lewis, a civil rights icon who died in 2020, began his quest for racial justice during the Jim Crow era. He worked often with Martin Luther King Jr., notably in Alabama during protest marches from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. He used the phrase often and told people to “get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”
The organization planned the protests to take place during the morning and evening rush hours in intersections throughout Charlotte, a press release said.
“I’m here today to protect democracy and make our voice heard,” said protester Shi’Anne Caldwell, Western Piedmont organizer for Common Cause North Carolina. “They want to decrease our voice. They want to make us feel smaller and feel like we do not have the power, which we do because we are the people.”
The ‘sacred ground for democracy’
The group also came together under the Pearl Street Park pavilion for a press conference. Speakers included a healthcare provider along with religious and advocacy leaders.
The park was chosen intentionally, Eberly said, calling it “sacred ground for democracy.” It was the first park for African Americans in Mecklenburg county when it opened during segregation in 1943.
Jessica Schorr Saxe, a retired family physician and member of Health Care Justice, spoke against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling it the worst thing that could have been put in place. The bill, taking away Medicaid for half a million North Carolinians, will hurt citizens, she said.
Rev. Rodney Sadler, Jr., said the problem of today is the nation lacks compassion. He asked “where is the love?” when ICE agents separate families and when the U.S. Department of Education loses funding.
“The Trump agenda is one of division,” Sadler said. “It’s one of hatred, and it’s a problem for me because long ago, Jesus Christ said, ‘the only thing you need to do is love God and love your neighbors.’”
Rallies around Charlotte and Gastonia
Rallies stretched across Charlotte including along Park Road near St. Luke’s Lutheran Church.
“We have kind of a limited time to intervene in what feels like a takeover of the government,” said Deb Douglas, an organizer with Indivisible Charlotte, who helped lead around 20 participants in holding posters and waving American flags.
“Seniors are not fraud, waste or abuse,” one sign read, while others attracted encouraging voter registration and social equity attracted honks and cheers from passing vehicles.
Johanna Bocko, who participated in the Park Road gathering, said beyond honoring John Lewis, she also joined in the demonstration to respect her father’s fight for freedom in the Navy.
“They just had to do a whole lot more than what I’m being called to do,” she said. “I’m willing to get out here and support everybody — and it’s very energizing.”
West of Charlotte, community advocacy groups in Gastonia expect to hold a gathering later tonight outside the Gaston County Courthouse, to reflect on Lewis’ work.
Indivisible Gaston in partnership with Dorothy’s Daughter, N.C. Black Alliance, EbonyFest, Advance Carolina, and Hunter Huss Alumni Association also plan to hold a rally and candlelight vigil.
Dorothy’s Daughter joined the national “Good Trouble Lives On” day because of Lewis’ legacy and the history of civil rights, said Yolanda Hall Miller, head of the senior advocacy group.
“John Lewis was an advocate and a fighter who suffered and sustained many injuries,” told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.
Continuing his fight for civil rights is personal for Miller. The lack of rights forced her great grandmother to be enslaved and her grandmother to be a sharecropper, she said.
Dorthy’s Daughter members visit senior living facilities to make sure residents feel comfortable. The group also makes care packages for cancer patients and seniors.
Seniors in the Gastonia area are fearful due to federal and local rollbacks, Miller said.
“They don’t know what’s going to happen with the Social Security benefits, their Medicare services,” she continued. “A lot of them depend on that for living.”
Douglas added, instead of expanding access to things like healthcare and voting, the current administration is “going in the wrong direction.”
“We the people, we have to stand up and say, ‘We got to stop this’, because nobody else is,” she said.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 1:19 PM.
