Youth Leaders Shine as Good Trouble Lives on in Amherst
Good Trouble Lives On Rally, Amherst Town Common, July 17, 2025. Photo: Annique Boomsma
Good trouble lived on in Amherst Massachusetts on the afternoon of July 17, 2025 as more than 300 people gathered on the Town Common with signs decrying the Trump administration’s treatment of immigrants, workers (both federal and union) and citizens. The event was organized out of care and concern for our constitution by local college students.
The event was one of at least 10 events in western Massachusetts aligned with Good Trouble Lives on Day, a national day of action organized in response to attacks on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration. The term “good trouble” was coined by the late Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis to define coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change. The event was scheduled to also commemorate the fifth anniversary of Lewis’ death. In western Massachusetts, “Good Trouble Lives On” events were held in Amherst, Belchertown, Easthampton, Granby, Greenfield, Haydenville, Northampton, Pittsfield, South Hadley and Westfield. Across the nation, actions were held in over 1600 communities and while mostly smaller than the No Kings rallies (see also here) that preceded them on June 14, they were no less urgent or passionate.
Local activist and recent Amherst high school graduate Marisol Pierce Bonifaz, who was also a featured speaker at the Northampton rally earlier in the day, kicked off the lineup of young speakers with an impassioned speech. She said:
“I am also, like many of you, extremely angry. I know that many people, particularly within our patriarchal government, would like to tell me that women shouldn’t be angry, that being an angry woman makes me hysterical or crazy. In my opinion, though, nothing is more powerful than an angry woman. “
“I am angry that I’m living in a reality in which I have fewer rights than my mother, that we continue to take one step forward and three steps back in achieving constitutional gender equality and bodily autonomy for all. I am angry that we are here, and Adriana Smith, the pregnant woman kept on life support while brain dead to birth a child, is not. I am angry that no pregnant person has autonomy over their bodies and their decisions. I am angry that we are accepting sexual offenders into the highest federal positions, and I am angry that we are bowing down to their policies. I am angry that we are separating families simply because of their documentation, and I am angry that we are funding a genocide in Gaza. “
“My anger, however, turns into action. I often feel like a hamster on a wheel, unsure that what I’m doing is really making a difference or even a dent in a federal, systemic conglomeration of problems, and then I remember who I do this for.” Read the full speech here.
One of the event organizers, an Amherst College student named Iowa, spoke of John Lewis‘s legacy. “Alongside Martin Luther King Jr., he taught the power of non-violent resistance. He not only taught through words but through actions. In every moment from the national sit in movement to his steadfast march through brutal police violence in Selma, Alabama, he showed us the way…He showed us that the ballot box can be a portal for real change. Even when his health was in decline, he tirelessly fought for the rights of the people. He reminded us that democracy is not a state, but an act. It is not a spectator sport but requires its members constantly demand that it be upheld.”
Another event organizer, an Amherst College student named Jonah, continued to honor Lewis and draw parallels between Lewis’ era and the current violation of human and civil rights enacted by the Trump administration.
He said, “John Lewis said, in times like these you have a moral obligation, a mission, and a mandate to speak up, speak out, and get in good trouble. He taught us to love one another, but not lose sight of the fight that we are all a part of, to help combat injustice and speak our mind. Today, we come together to cause some good trouble, necessary trouble, so that the world can see that we will not stand for the actions of our government… It is our moral responsibility to help foster a spirit of welcoming and compassion in order to help form the America that we want and the America that John Lewis wanted. That is an America in which safety, support, and freedom are provided to all people. This American ideal cannot coexist with the regime that kidnaps immigrants and sends them to be hurt and separated from their families. The silent opposition to Trump’s injustice will not get us anywhere. We must spread the word and keep going, never losing steam and never giving up. Trump is threatening the safety that is an inherent right of all people. I’m glad to see you all out here today, making some good trouble”
Finally, local student Ethan Flamand shared a modern twist on the ending of the Declaration of Independence, joining Pierce-Bonifaz in reading “A Declaration for the Restoration of the Republic” which he authored. They said, : “We the People of these United States solemnly demand that, in no more than 30 days, every act, appointment, order, ruling, and decision made under the current administration, beginning on the 20th day of January this year, shall be totally and unconditionally reversed. We demand that, in no more than 30 days, every member of the cabinet of this administration, every enabler of this regime, and the President at its helm, Donald J. Trump, totally and unconditionally relinquish their offices of power in the sole interest of restoring liberty, security, justice, and prosperity to The People of these United States of America.”
“When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. We deem this declaration no ordinary phrase– it is an immortal prophecy of a free state. People are not often impelled to take such decisive action against the continuance of long-established institutions. We are reminded by this immortal prophecy that a boundary between liberty and tyranny exists as physically and truly as we do ourselves. A nation founded on principles of liberty and human rights is not expected to, but is yet not immune from the vice of slipping away from such promises in the hands of greed and evil, thus crossing this real boundary. As terrible fortune would have it, our present case must serve as evidence that no arrangement of institutions is perfect, and that the failure of even the most intelligently forged structures cannot be permanently evaded. The eyes of history lay upon us at this moment, and implore that we do not let them down. The eyes of history demand that we recognize that tyranny has become law, and that it is time to fulfill this duty.” Read the full declaration here.
The crowd, sporting many signs reflecting the theme of “good trouble” and honoring Lewis’ lifelong commitment to justice, then took to the streets in a march led by the youth.
Read more: Youth Leaders Stir ‘Good Trouble’ at Northampton rally in Honor of Civil Rights Activist and Congressman John Lewis. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
