John Lewis Day of Action in 2025 will be observed on Thursday, July 17th , the fifth anniversary of his passing. It will be a day to commemorate his legacy, particularly his commitment to civil rights and voting rights, and to take action to defend democracy.
In Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America, Lewis wrote this about what he learned from movement building: "Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part ot create an even more fair, more just society." With those thoughts in mind, we offer these suggestions of actions you can take as together, we follow John Lewis' lead to "redeem the soul of our nation."
1. Learn about John Lewis and his work. Good places to start are his graphic novel trilogy March, the biography John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg, or the children's book Because of You, John Lewis by Andrea Davis Pinkney.
If you prefer audio to print, watch Rachel Maddow interview him here at the University of Louisville in 2013. Or you can hear Morgan Freeman read John Lewis's last words, a letter he penned to the New York Times to be published on the day of his funeral here.
Finally, watch Dawn Porter's documentary film John Lewis: Good Trouble. Here is a link to the official trailer for the film.
2. Speak up for your beliefs ... in real life and online. Social media certainly has its issues, but it is also a powerful tool to connect with others. Share others' posts that inspire you and create your own. You never know who might be “listening” to you and how your small act of courage might inspire them.
3. Find and attend a “Good Trouble Lives On” event. The Good Trouble Lives On website lists them and includes a map to find in-person events. Listings range the gamut from virtual activities to vigils and rallies. Here in western Kentucky, there is an event in Paducah Thursday evening from 6:30 to 7:30 with a showing of the film John Lewis: Good Trouble by filmmaker Dawn Porter. Signup for this event can be found on the website map, or here: Good Trouble Lives On: Paducah Four Rivers Indivisible.
4. Work to Protect Voting Rights: Tell your senators to oppose the SAVE Act. More information, from the League of Women Voters, can be found here.
5. Work to Protect Voting Rights: Support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, The Freedom to Vote Act, and various state voting rights acts. From the League of Women Voters:
Selma, Voting Rights Act, and Freedom to Vote
6. Work to Protect Voting Rights: Fight against stricter voting requirements in your state's legislature. You can find and track anti-voter bills here.
7. Work to Oppose Racial Gerrymandering. More information, from the League of Women Voters, can be found here.
8. Commit to Voting your ENTIRE ballot, EVERY election, including the local ones.
9. Commit to being an informed voter, especially in judicial elections, for which there is often not a lot of easily accessible information about the candidates. It is worth the work.
10. Check your voter's registration and update it if necessary. Register to vote if you have not. Familiarize yourself with your state's online voting information portal, where depending on the state, you can register to vote provided you have a driver's license on file with the state so they have your signature (true in Kentucky), change your address, change your party affiliation, find your polling places, see a sample ballot, apply to vote absentee, etc. Ask TWO FRIENDS to do the same. The website VOTE.ORG is a treasure trove of useful information and has links to the states' portals.
11. Volunteer to be a poll worker on election days. Call your local election office for more information.
12. Encourage others to commit to vote on election days, also known as Getting Out the Vote (GOTV). An easy and fun way to do this (and to learn about candidates, issues, and elections, many local and/or special elections, all over the country) is to become a volunteer writer for an organization like Postcards To Voters, Vote Forward or Hope Springs from Field, which offers deep canvassing in some areas in addition to postcard campaigns.
13. Subscribe to Independent Journalists who Cover Democracy-related Issues and News. A few suggestions: Letters from an American (Heather Cox Richardson), Democracy Docket (Marc Elias), Mueller She Wrote (Allison Gill), The Contrarian (Jennifer Rubin).
14. Join and/or Donate to Organizations that Defend Democracy, such as the ACLU, League of Women Voters, The Brennan Center for Justice.
This list is not exhaustive, of course. There are many ways to act. Some are small actions while others are big actions. But every action by each and every individual adds to the total of all actions, which is significant to the goal of "redeeming the soul of America." So please, take this time to honor John Lewis and make some "Good Trouble."
