‘Good Trouble:’ Activists and advocates hold two demonstrations in Jackson

Lewis died July 17, 2020 at the age of 80. He was a Civil Rights icon who felt that demonstrations could be disruptive and necessary, popularizing the quote “good trouble, necessary trouble."

Grassroots organizers honored his legacy Thursday with protests and demonstrations around the country.

Kathleen O'Beirne is an organizer of a “Good Trouble” demonstration at Jackson’s Duling Hall.

“For the past, I don't know, six months, 50501 Mississippi has hosted the rallies and protests at the state capitol, protesting the Trump administration and all of the atrocities and devastation that our country is facing as a result of his administration,” she said.

O’Beirne said for July, she and other organizers wanted to do something a little different, preferably with air conditioning.  

“Because it's Mississippi and it's the summer and it is hot,” O’Beirne said. “We also have a number of elderly folks who like to join our efforts. I had gotten the idea that progressives need to have more fun and we need to welcome all those who agree with us on some of the issues, even if they don't agree with us on all of the issues.” 

Dianne Harms of Jackson says she doesn’t attend protests, but decided to come to Duling Hall.

“I've been a person who hasn't wanted to get into any kind of trouble,” she said. “I'm an oldest child, always trying to do exactly the right thing. I was in a position where I was careful because I was around a lot of people who thought many different ways. I've come to the point where I think I've got to risk trouble, good trouble, not illegal trouble. Not ugly trouble, not hateful trouble, but trouble filled with love and care.”

Several Mississippi nonprofits were invited to have exhibit tables at the hall, highlighting issues including the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ maternal health, veteran’s rights and immigration.

Nataly Camacho is an organizer and paralegal for the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, or MIRA. She says she came to the demonstration to bring awareness about the level of fear she says is growing in immigrant communities throughout the state.

“I've been eyewitness to a lot separation of families and it's very disheartening, watching kids cry, watching kids scream for their parents,” she said. “It's a lot of turmoil.”

After a couple of hours, the Duling Hall gathering attracted the attention of some counterprotesters, who stood outside the building with a loudspeaker and signs that encouraged demonstrators to repent for their sins. O’Beirne, the organizer, says she offered the counterprotesters burgers but they declined.

“I don't even know what these people are out here protesting, particularly in the name of Jesus,” she said. “As I said to them, maybe we just believe in a different Jesus. But I think that the vast majority of the folks who came out to this event tonight are here because either their faith in Jesus or their own personal moral compass, regardless of their faith, teaches them that we do have to love our neighbors as ourselves and we do have to work towards the common good if this country and this democracy are to survive.”

Meanwhile, across town that night just over a dozen demonstrators gathered inside the Cornerstone Baptist Church. In 2002, it was here where Mamie Till-Mobley described how she made the decision to have an open casket funeral for her son, Emmett Till.

Levi Gill, who lives in West Jackson, is a father of five who attended the demonstration.

“It's really important to be I think in an area that I think is going to face the hardest effects of disinvestment and has faced it in the past,” he said. “It's our neighborhood so our lives are tied up here. It was important to be here as we made much of John Lewis and his legacy.” 

Awards were handed out to some members of the small group and attendees sang hymns. Organizers of the event went over federal bills they wanted passed, including a bill for Washington, DC’s statehood, no criteria absentee voting and the restoration of voting rights for people who were previously incarcerated.