Activists in Richmond and across the country will honor the legacy of the late Congressman John Lewis on Thursday with marches, rallies and calls to action aimed at defending civil rights and expanding voter protections.

The Good Trouble Lives On National Day of Action, now in its fifth year, will bring together more than 1,500 events nationwide, including a protest in Richmond on Monument Avenue from 5 to 7 p.m. Organizers say the event will be held rain or shine.

Local groups including RVA Indivisible, Nolef Turns Inc., the ACLU of Virginia and the Richmond Democratic Socialists of America are expected to join the demonstration, along with as many as 2,000 participants, organizers said. The action is part of a nationwide movement supporting immigrants, transgender people, people of color and the working class.

At a national press conference Tuesday, leaders from the Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) and Black Voters Matter said the day is meant to push back against what they describe as ongoing threats to democracy.

“We need to follow the legacy of the change-makers like John Lewis in this country,” Black Voters Matter Legal Director and Chief of Staff April Albright said, “and now it is our turn to make America become something greater, something better and something we’ve never seen before.”

 April Albright
 

Organizers say the day will include a flagship rally in Chicago and anchor events in Georgia, Missouri, Maryland and California, with hundreds of thousands expected to participate.

“We follow in [John Lewis’] footsteps to let our fellow citizens and elected representatives know of our objections to cutting social aid and deporting law-abiding immigrants,” RVA Indivisible stated in a press release.

The day of action was organized with the blessing of Lewis’ family, according to TJC Board Chair Darryl Jones,, whose only condition was that the events serve not as “a somber remembrance,” but opportunities for others to take up his ideals and mission and move them forward.

“We want to get the word out to everyone to become part of this movement,” TJC co-leader Barbara Arnwine said. “This is not a one-off, we will be doing more in the future, but we are so grateful to stand up in John Lewis’ legacy on Thursday throughout the nation, throughout the world.”