🌝 that’s the emoji for the full moon with face — the “man in the moon” — to mark 7/20, Man On the Moon Day, the anniversary of astronauts walking on the moon for the first time, in 1969 (a day I remember well, as my little family was gearing up for the move from Urbana IL, where (clustered around our little portable tv) we viewed the event; to Columbus OH, in a trek from my first professor gig, at UIUC, to my second, at OSU)
But this posting is going to be devoted to a different day of memory, one that I let slip by on 7/17: John Lewis’s death day, now memorialized in my country as the Good Trouble National Day of Action.
From the New Black Voices website, “Good Trouble Lives On: Honoring Congressman John Lewis with a National Day of Action” on 7/17/25:
Congressman John Lewis [2/21/1940 – 7/17/20], the late civil rights icon and U.S. Representative from Georgia’s 5th District, remains one of the most enduring symbols of courage, resilience, and justice in American history. Known for his unwavering dedication to nonviolent activism, Lewis’ legacy transcends generations. As America continues to grapple with inequality, voter suppression, and systemic injustice, the call to honor his memory has materialized into an annual National Day of Action. This day celebrates Lewis’s life, legacy, and the enduring philosophy he popularized: making ‘Good Trouble,’ such as leading peaceful marches, organizing sit-ins, and advocating for legislative change.
… In the days following his death, activists, lawmakers, and communities across the country vowed to keep his mission alive. His call to “get in good trouble, necessary trouble” became a rallying cry. From marches to voter registration drives, Lewis’ passing reignited a national movement.
To preserve his legacy, the “Good Trouble Day of Action“ has been established as an annual event, observed every July 17, the anniversary of his death.
Background: about New Black Voices. From the New Black Voices (“Different Shades, Scattered Globally, Same Goals!”) “About Us” page:
Diversity, Inclusion & Equality Inc’s mission is to educate businesses and the general public on issues of diversity, inclusion and equality. It educates on the disadvantages of resistance to diversity and inclusion, which can lead to inequality.
New Black Voices’ mission is to promote tolerance and understanding among all peoples, and offer assistance to Americans and immigrants that are victims of racial discrimination.
It’s mission is accomplished via the following: Planning, implementing and strengthening local and national programs that promote tolerance and understanding among people of various ethnicities.
Monitoring legislation, policies, and programs that affect the civil rights of Americans of color and immigrants in America. Providing informational, networking, and other assistance to our members and to the general public.
Background: John Lewis and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. From my 5/15/25 posting “Stay the course”:
In today’s mail came my Stand Up and Stand Out t-shirt for racial justice. Deliberately designed (by me) with an understated message — Edmund Pettus Bridge — in serious muted colors and an elegant font, not in the neon colors and tough sans serif fonts of my in-your-face queer t-shirts (today’s is just a rainbow QUEER shirt, but yesterday’s was a neon pink BIG FAG, and an equally obtrusive FAGGOT is up for tomorrow):
… What the bridge says. From my 4/15/22 posting “LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS BLACK WOMEN:
A hero of mine … from back in the disastrous days of the 1960s, when we got to regularly view scenes of literally murderous rage by white people directed at black people (every so often those hate-deranged whites actually did murder black folks, or lynch them; John Lewis escaped with his life, but just barely).
… What the fact-filled Wikipedia account fails to capture is he was an irrationally decent man (decent way beyond rational expectation), full of irrational hope (hopeful way beyond rational expectation) — buoyed by his faith, true, but there his decency and hope were, and some of it was quite astonishing, because it was in fact far from conventional Christianity. What I said on Facebook:
he truly believed that we could reach the Promised Land in this life (not in an afterlife on Jordan’s other bank) — just not in his life, it would take some time.
Conventional Christianity tells us that life on this earth is filled with pain, terror, mistreatment, outright slavery, and wickedness, but that the believer will be rewarded with undiluted and enduring joy and delight after death, with Jesus in the life everlasting. I’m sure John Lewis believed that too. But he also thought that with resolution and determination and good will you can change this world, make it truly better. You can remake this world in the spirit of Christ’s love. But the project will take some time and we have to stay the course.
Stay the course, and stay strong. That’s what the bridge says.
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