More than 70 people gathered in Hendersonville on a hot, sunny Thursday to protest President Donald Trump and honor the late John Lewis — in a county where Trump captured 70% of the vote in the 2024 election.
This rally was one of the more than 1,500 “Good Trouble” demonstrations that took place across the country to mark the anniversary of the death of civil rights icon and U.S. Congressman John Lewis and decry what organizers are calling the Trump administration’s attacks on civil rights.
During the Civil Rights Movement, John Lewis organized Freedom Rides and sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Nashville. He went on to lead the first march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama — an event now remembered as “Bloody Sunday” due to the brutal response of state troopers, who attacked the non-violent protestors and fractured Lewis’s skull.
Nashville Banner Archives, Special Collections Division Nashville Public LibraryJohn Lewis addresses Nashville police officers outside the Hermitage Hotel on May 13, 1963.
Thursday’s “Good Trouble” rallies were inspired by Lewis’ legacy of non-violent collective action, according to organizers.
Hollis Rutledge, the president of the local NAACP chapter, wore a tee shirt emblazoned with Lewis’ famous phrase: “good trouble.”
“This, to me, is not so much about a [political] party, but civil rights, standing up for what’s moral and what’s right,” he said.
Rutledge, a Gallatin native, was especially concerned that Trump’s funding cuts to healthcare and SNAP benefits will hurt underserved rural communities in Tennessee.
“It seems to be that everything that’s happening is for the upper crust. And it seems to be that the people towards the middle or towards the bottom are not being helped.”
As the crowd cheered on the speakers, children played with a bubble machine and volunteers handed out information about voter registration. A small group of counter-protesters watched on quietly while holding pro-Trump signs and flags.
Rose Gilbert WPLN News Isla Baquero and her little sister, Keira, hold up their handmade protest signs.
Many of the “Good Trouble” demonstrators brought handmade signs, including 15-year-old Isla Baquero, who carried a poster board with a quote from John Lewis: “Let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.”
More: These 1960s Nashville Police Mugshots Of John Lewis Take On New Meaning Today
Baquero said she’s upset by how Trump’s policies have impacted people of color, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community.
“If I just sat around and did nothing and let the people in power do whatever they want, I don’t think I could live with that. So I feel like I need to be out here and say what I believe in,” she said.
The protest ended with the crowd singing “Good Trouble Lives On.”
Rachel Iacovone WPLN NewsA mural honoring the life of John Lewis and the Freedom Riders, located in downtown Nashville.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM