People gather in Morris to ‘make good trouble’ by protesting Trump administration policies

A crowd of around 60 people lined Illinois Route 47 in Morris Thursday to ‘make good trouble,’ as the late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis often referred to peaceful protesting.

People offered many reasons for protesting but all centered on policies and actions take by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Some had signs with the basic message of “resist” while others had signs iterating their fear for their grandkids’ futures. Others held up signs reiterating Lewis’s advice to “make good trouble.”

“Lewis started out young,” said Kate Quigley, a protester from Marseilles. “He was the youngest of the Big Six for Civil Rights movements, and he continued throughout his life. He walked the walk, talked the talk, and he shone in his demonstration.”

The “Big Six” is commonly used to refer to Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, John Lewis, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young, the leaders of six civil rights organizations. Lewis was the leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Thursday’s protest was held by Indivisible Illinois in part to honor Lewis’s legacy on the fifth anniversary of his passing.

It was also held to be a platform for people to have their voices heard, like Morris resident Thom Goetz. a disabled veteran.

“I’m against the firing of so many employees at the Hines VA Hospital where I go,” Goetz said. “I’ve been going since 1970. And there’s people’s rights being taken away. It’s gotten to where our democracy is very fragile. I have to speak up. You have to speak up.”

Goetz said the VA hospital has lost many assistants, and the auxiliary people working there are gone. Some of his doctors have gone, too, finding other places to work.

“Getting appointments is beginning to take longer,” Goetz said.

The attacks on renewable energy are also a concern. Morris resident Mike Gallagher said he became active protesting years ago due to climate change.

“HR1 is just throwing a sucker punch to the renewable energy future that our country really needs,” Gallagher said. “It’s a huge growth industry right now, and it’s really one of the ways, well, everybody talks about China. China, China, China, and they’re selling electric vehicles all over the world. Why are we hamstringing our electric vehicle manufacturing in the U.S.?”

Gallagher said he’s been an independent for years. He’s not a Democrat, but he said Republicans are far worse for the planet in regards to pollution and climate change, and corporate control of the economy.

One issue many protesters shared as a concern, though, was a fear of encroaching fascism.

“I’m disturbed by the lack of awareness about the fascism this country is dissolving into,” Quigley said. “Not enough people have remembered or studied history to see the patterns that have formed. You ask what line needs to be crossed: We’re there.”

She expressed concerns over lines that have been crossed in regards to “human decency. We have concentration camps now. That’s not OK. That’s not normal. I don’t care who you are, even if you’re not here legally.”

Another protester pitched in and put it this way: “I want to be able to tell my grandchildren and great grandchildren that I did not remain silent.”