Peaceful protest honors Civil Rights leader John Lewis

Hundreds in Chico honor John Lewis by marching on the fifth anniversary of the Civil Rights leader’s death. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Good trouble lives on. That was the overriding message of those who took to the streets throughout the United States on July 17.

A veteran makes her opinion known. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

This date is now known as John Lewis Day—the day the Civil Rights activist and icon died at age 80 in 2020.

There is even a goodtroubleliveson.org website. It says: “We are facing the most brazen rollback of civil rights in generations. Whether you’re outraged by attacks on voting rights, the gutting of essential services, disappearances of our neighbors, or the assault on free speech and our right to protest—this movement is for you.”

Calling out perceived injustices. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

It’s about the power of the people coming together.

On this particular Thursday several hundred people gathered at Chico State before walking in an orderly manner through downtown to the iconic hands sculpture.

It was billed as a “march for justice”.

One of the many signs July 17 in Chico. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Indivisible Chico put this information out in advance of the march: “The 3.5 percent threshold is frequently referred to as a measure of a protest event’s success in participation. This descriptive statistic was surfaced by political scientist Erica Chenoweth of the Harvard Kennedy School in collaboration with Maria J. Stephan. Their research showed that governments have rarely withstood a challenge of 3.5 percent of its population actively participating in sustained, nonviolent protests. The number of protests in the U.S. this year through May are well over three times that of the number staged through May in 2017 based on calculations made before June 14 No Kings national protest which turned out an estimated 5 million participants.”