Carl Snowden looked out at the crowd of hundreds of peaceful, sign-carrying protesters gathered on Lawyers Mall in the oppressive heat of a late July afternoon and liked what he saw. And he thought John Lewis would have liked it, too.
“You’re part of what John Lewis had once dreamed of, a multiracial group of people who understand that America at its best, is America that’s diverse,” said Snowden, a longtime Anne Arundel County civil rights activist who told the crowd that they are “a part of history.”
“America is at a crossroads,” he said. “But for some people who are pessimistic, I want to tell you, this is not the time for pessimism. This is not the time for apathy. This is a time for action.”
The event in Annapolis was one of more than 1,600 “Good Trouble Lives On” rallies scheduled across the U.S. — more than 40 in Maryland — honoring the legacy of former U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a renowned civil rights leader who talked about making “good trouble” to advance social justice. Lewis died five years ago Thursday, on July 17, 2020, at age 80.
Some events were as simple as a few people gathering to wave signs at passing traffic, others were large, organized marches. In Annapolis, one of four “anchor” cities selected to host a large-scale event as part of the John Lewis National Day of Action, protesters gathered at different points around the city before marching to Lawyer’s Mall and the steps of the State House for a rally.
Throughout the event, held by the statue of former civil rights lawyer and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, advocates and local elected officials spoke of Lewis’ legacy and the different threats they said Marylanders face as a result of the Trump administration.
Maryland Sen. Shaneka Henson (D-Anne Arundel) said that “you have to use your voice to make sure you preserve the right to use your voice.”
“We will not settle for having a right on paper but no voice out loud, for having a right on paper but no way to exercise it,” Henson said. “We will not settle for rhetoric and talk. We will continue to protest, we will continue to march, we will continue to rally to remember and reflect on those who came before us, but you need to have victory in hand.”
Lewis represented Georgia’s 5th District in Congress from 1987 until his death in 2020. Before that, he was a leader of some of the most important moments of the Civil Rights era, including delivering a keynote speech at the famed 1963 March on Washington at age 23.
Two years later, in March 1965, he was at the head of a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, for voting rights when marchers were attacked by state police as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, an event now known as “Bloody Sunday.” It helped set the stage for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd) planned to attend the rally, but got stuck in late votes Thursday on Capitol Hill, so a staffer brought a message from Elfreth to the crowd.
“These are dark times, which is why we must continue to band together to win where we can and protect our community where we must,” said Eva Lewis, the staffer. “We must continue to believe that we can make the change we want to see, that the pendulum will swing back towards equality, freedom and the ideals we hold dear.”
But that pendulum swing won’t happen on its own, Lewis said.
“It requires all of us here today to push and fight for a path forward — a path forward that John Lewis and so many others knew was possible,” she told the crowd.
Several speakers highlighted the impacts Trump’s administration has had on education.
Evelyn DeJesus, the American Federation of Teachers’ executive vice president, said everything the union’s members stand for “has been turned into a punching bag.”
“The Trump administration is trying to defund education unilaterally through government outreach,” DeJesus said. “The administration does not have the right to starve children because of would-be savings.”
Others, like CASA policy manager Ninfa Amador-Hernandez and Annapolis Pride Chair Joe Toolan, spoke of the threats faced by immigrant communities both in Maryland and across the U.S.
“I see every day how fear permeates my Latino siblings. Fear because ICE is detaining anyone who is brown and sending them to Alligator Alcatraz,” Toolan said, referring to a temporary migrant detention center recently opened in the Florida Everglades.
After the event, Anne Arundel County Councilmember Lisa Rodvien (D-6th) said it’s important for people to remind each other that they’re not in the fight alone.
“Our power is when we join together,” she said. “You know the old phrase, ‘The people united will never be defeated.’ And it’s time for us to remind ourselves of that, but also to remind ourselves of what is at stake.”
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: scrane@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and Twitter.
