Maybe you’ve seen the folks who gather on Mondays at the intersection of Baxter Street and Alps Road to protest President Trump, his policies and other politicians. As part of Indivisible District 10, they wave signs and encourage drivers to honk. On Thursday, July 17, more than 300 people lined the sidewalk on both sides of the street, making “good trouble” in honor of civil rights icon John Lewis.
There were newcomers and old-timers, young people and seniors, different races, most of them waving signs signaling their disagreement with the current Republican administration. Similar nonviolent protests were held all over the country on July 17, the five-year anniversary of John Lewis’ death.
One participant was Watkinsville resident Gail Harvard, 73, who was wearing pioneer clothes, strumming a ukulele and singing a protest song whose words were drowned out by drivers honking their support, and the crowd cheering every honk. She is one of three members of the local group Raging Cracker Grannies, saying, “Though we be small, we be mighty.”
Someone near her waved a sign that said “Impeach Convict Remove.” Other people carried notices that “We Are Not Okay” and “Good Trouble Lives On.” One man carried a big sign that said, “In the name of Humanity, we refuse to accept a fascist America.” Social worker Mimi Elliot-Gower was among those standing on Baxter, across from Schlotzsky’s, with a sign saying “Love Your Neighbor.”
“I really admire John Lewis and admire good trouble,” she said. “You feel you got to do something.”
Before the protest, there was a teach-in and sign-making session at the Athens-Clarke County Library on Baxter Street. Organized by Clarke County teachers Brent Andrews, Tara Stewart and Laura McGreevy, the goal of the teach-in was to see more young people paying attention to politics, “to inform and engage them more,” Andrews said.
They decided the way to get teenagers to participate would be to have younger people talking to them as peers. Chanda Santana, founder of Divas Who Win, brought girls who were attending her summer camp Get LIT (Leaders in Training). Speakers included Brittany Lopez, with Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition and U-LEAD; tattoo artist Darya Kalantari, who is involved in community organizing; Elliot Williamson from Athens Pride & Queer Collective; and Athens Poet Laureate Mikhayla Smith, who works with the Georgia Conflict Center. Smith read an inspiring poem she had written entitled “Be Of Service.”
“I believe in the legacy of John Lewis,” Smith said. “I use poetry to activate and engage. This is my job as a poet, to use my art and to be locally organizing. My job is to show up and speak out.”
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