‘Good Trouble Lives On’ rally draws hundreds to suburban protests
Hundreds of people lined Kimball Street in Elgin on Thursday afternoon, carrying signs and chanting as part of the nationwide series of “Good Trouble Lives On” protests.
The national day of protest marks the fifth anniversary of the death of civil rights leader and longtime congressman John Lewis, to continue Lewis’ legacy of nonviolent action to defend democracy, voting rights and civil liberties.
Similar protests took place Thursday afternoon across the suburbs including in Arlington Heights, Barrington, Bartlett, Buffalo Grove, Crystal Lake, Glen Ellyn, Naperville, Palatine, Schaumburg and Waukegan.
Janet Vercelli of Elgin attended the rally with her husband, John, and said it’s the 12th protest in which they’ve participated in the past few months.
“I’m fighting for this country, for basic decency, to eliminate the cruelty and just be a compassionate human being that cares about other people and this country,” she said. “I’m not seeing that from our government.”
People carried signs with messages in support of immigrants, Ukraine, Black Lives Matter, public education, workers’ rights, social security and more. The one unifying theme of the day was an overwhelmingly anti-Donald Trump sentiment and opposition to the current administration’s agenda.
The national action, organized by groups including Indivisible, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Urban League and others, aims to respond to “attacks on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration,” according to the movement’s website.