Good Trouble

“Good Trouble” is more than a phrase—it’s a moral compass for those who believe justice is worth the risk. Made famous by the late Congressman John Lewis, it captures the spirit of righteous defiance: the kind of resistance that shakes systems, opens eyes, and bends the long arc of the moral universe closer to justice.

When Lewis spoke of Good Trouble, he was not calling for chaos. To stir Good Trouble is to act from love, but refuse to bow to fear. It is not partisan; it is principled. It asks us to speak when it is inconvenient, to stand when we are told to sit, and to care when apathy feels easier. It lives on in the students walking out for climate justice, in voters defending democracy, in organizers uplifting voices long ignored.

Good Trouble reminds us that protest is patriotic. It tells the young that they are powerful. It calls the quiet to rise. In a time of book bans, gerrymandering, and disinformation, the troublemakers of truth are more necessary than ever.

We honor John Lewis not just by remembering him, but by continuing his fight—with our voices, our votes, our courage. The world does not change on its own. It changes because someone, somewhere, decided to make Good Trouble.

Let that someone be us.