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Good & Necessary Trouble [1]

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Date: 2025-04-21

Good & Necessary Trouble

In a piece the other day, I wrote about Good Trouble, saying that the Hands-off protest were not in fact Good Trouble, that is because some participants have been saying they were doing Good Trouble. A couple of commentators took offense at my statement. Before jumping in outrage, note that my problem isn’t with organizers or participants, it is about whether or not this kind of protest will yield results. I will probably not answer those who come into the comments to nitpick. If you want to discuss effectiveness, that’s good, but if it’s about “show me your bloodied good trouble pictures” no thanks.

Good Trouble has a meaning and a legacy, it is about being willing to get in trouble for the good of an ideal or injustice. It is not simply about protesting; it is about disruption. The Hands-Off protests are not disruptive, they are in fact planned not to be disruptive. They are massive, but they are not disruptive. And please for the love of God disruptive does not mean violence. As a matter of fact, Good Trouble is against violence. Violence was perpetrated against the protesters, but they did not return violence or start it.

One could say, the Hands-Off protests were planned to avoid trouble. Avoid getting arrested. Avoid the police presence. Avoid major disruptions. In that sense they are not “Good Trouble”. The last protest took place on the 19th, and no big stories, it has already disappeared from the headlines.

Can the Hands Off protest result in change? I don’t know from where I’m standing while the protest have drawn millions, they seem to have had no impact on the administration itself. Mostly the republicans have been able to ignore the protests because there has been no disruption. No traffic halted. No businesses empty of workers. No barring of entry into the Capitol or their houses. Their lives haven’t been affected one bit. I saw there was a protest in front of Vance’s home so I looked it up, it was a lot of people lined up on the sides of a street jeering at cars or cheering depending on I presume the reaction of those in the car.

As I stated, maybe if they were more frequent but having a protest every 3 or 4 weeks breaks momentum. A movement usually grows with each passing day or event. But when you have an interval that is too long, the opposite tends to happen. As a matter of fact while still attracting many, the protest on the 19th had less people than the ones on the 5th, overall. (some places had more people but a lot had fewer people).

Peaceful protest as I said have been known to work, it is not the peaceful part however that I am critiquing, it is the lack of disruption. And the reason I said they were more like parties, is because most of them looked like people out having fun. Sorry but that is what it looks like. You even had attendees asking about the possibility of having bouncing castles for the next ones. There was no sense of outrage, of anger, of urgency.

I saw huge crowds and heard chants and speeches most very uplifting. But mostly I saw, people lined up by the side of the road, sitting on picnic blankets, smiling, laughing, having fun. I didn’t see a lot of fire and outrage. When there was a speaker, most were not even listening.

This is not to disparage the organizers or participants, for in order to gather that many obviously they had got some serious work done.

Good Trouble: The Story of John Lewis and the Fight for Civil Rights - Unexpected Virtual Tours & Training

paypal.me/murielvieux to help Haitians families 10$ x donors can go a long way.

#ThePoet - Muriel Vieux – April 21st, 2025, ©All rights reserved

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