“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble”
Entry in progress—B.P.
Wikipedia: John Lewis (civil rights leader)
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil-rights leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020 from pancreatic cancer. Lewis served as the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966.
Lewis was one of the “Big Six” leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington and the last surviving one at the time of his death. He fulfilled many key roles in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States.
18 April 2000, Grand Rapids (MI) Press, “Civil rights leader urges faithful to protect convictions” by David Burck, pg. B3:
“There comes a time when you have to put yourself in the way,” U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia said Monday about the role of politics and religion in society as part of the school’s annual Paul B. Henry Lecture. “Christians shouldn’t be afraid to get in trouble as long as it’s good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Google Books
Succeed On Your Own Terms:
Lessons From Top Achievers Around the World on Developing Your Unique Potential: Lessons From Top Achievers Around the World on Developing Your Unique Potential
BY Herb Greenberg and Patrick Sweeney
New York, NY: McGraw Hill Professional
2006
Pg. 172:
This was the first time John was arrested. “I’d been told over and over again by my parents, ‘Don’t get in trouble.’ And here I was getting in real trouble. But it was good trouble. It was necessary trouble,” he said.
25 October 2007, Politico (Arlington, VA), “The making of ‘18 in ‘08’” by David D. Burstein:
I talked to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the legendary civil rights leader, and he called on our generation to get in “good trouble” and do something about injustices we observe.
Twitter
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@Building_Clean
.@repjohnlewis inspired to get in “good trouble” when learning about Rosa Parks & MLK.
8:35 AM · Feb 23, 2012·TweetDeck
YouTube
Rep. John Lewis: “Get in good trouble”
Jun 23, 2014
CNN
Representative John Lewis discusses an exhibit about his life at the new National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
Twitter
John Lewis
@repjohnlewis
You are never too young or too old to get in good trouble, necessary trouble. #goodtrouble
1:45 PM · Jul 6, 2015·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
John Lewis
@repjohnlewis
Sometimes you have to get in the way and get in good trouble, necessary trouble, to make a way out of noway. #goodtrouble
10:42 AM · May 23, 2017·Twitter Web Client
Time
Why Getting Into Trouble is Necessary to Make Change
BY JOHN LEWIS JANUARY 4, 2018 6:34 AM EST
Lewis is the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District
(...)
When I was growing up, my mother and father and grandparents would tell me, “Don’t get in trouble. This is the way it is.” But then I heard Dr. King speak when I was 15. To hear him preach, to be in a discussion with him sitting on the floor, or in a car, or at a meeting in a restaurant or a church, or just walking together … He instilled something within us. I never in my years around him saw him down. Never saw him hostile or mean to a single person.
Dr. King and others inspired me to get in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. And I think we’re going to have generations for years to come that will be prepared to get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.
Twitter
John Lewis
@repjohnlewis
Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. #goodtrouble
11:15 AM · Jun 27, 2018·Twitter Web Client
USA Today
‘Get in good trouble, necessary trouble’: Rep. John Lewis in his own words
Joshua Bote
Published 7:43 a.m. ET July 18, 2020 Updated 12:46 p.m. ET July 19, 2020
Rep. John Lewis, who devoted his life to racial justice and equality, died Friday night at 80. He revealed late last year that he was undergoing treatment for Stage IV pancreatic cancer.
(...)
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
– A tweet from June 2018