Tag Archives: Good Trouble

Democracy under attack, Good Trouble, John Lewis, Local vigilance, Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible

Good Trouble Lives on in Vallejo & Benicia, Weekend of July 17-19 2026

Remembering  John Lewis,  Calling  for  Democracy,  Freedom  &  Justice  for  All

Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible, July 14, 2026

Stand Up for Democracy Rally & Food Drive

When Congressman John Lewis passed away, he left us with a clear directive: “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Saturday, July 18th, Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible is answering that call by participating in a national Good Trouble Day of Action. If you were with us last year, you know how powerful it is when our local community unites to protect our democratic institutions.

Saturday, July 18, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Stand Up for Democracy Rally & Food Drive
At the corner of Admiral Callaghan and Plaza Dr
1175 Admiral Callaghan Lane in Vallejo
(near Home Depot)

The fight to protect voting rights never ends, and right now, we’re witnessing a Jim-Crow-era effort from politicians and their billionaire friends to restrict our freedoms, silence our voices, and consolidate power.

But in America, we choose our leaders. We will decide our future. The same spirit that fueled Selma, Montgomery, and the March on Washington lives on in our unified action.

Six years after the passing of Congressman Lewis, we’re organizing an event in our community to carry the torch, continue the legacy of John Lewis, and pass it forward to future generations. Join us!

We are expanding our standard Saturday rally into a dedicated, peaceful Good Trouble demonstration and community food drive. Bring your passion, your energy, and your homemade signs as we stand united for our freedoms!

True democracy means taking care of our neighbors. We are hosting a food drive alongside our rally to benefit Food is Free Bay Area. Please bring non-perishable, shelf-stable food items to the Chevy’s parking lot. Learn more about their vital food rescue work at fifbayarea.org.

Good Trouble Lives On is a non-partisan weekend of action. We require that participants commit to not advocate for, endorse, or oppose any political candidate or ballot initiative. A core principle behind all Good Trouble Lives On events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.

MORE from Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible – Full Schedule for Saturday July 18

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Stand Up for Democracy Rally & Food Drive
• Location: Sidewalks at Admiral Callaghan Lane & Plaza Drive (near Home Depot).
• We are taking our standard Saturday rally and amplifying it to represent the spirit of Good Trouble. Grab your progressive signs and line the sidewalks with us!
• Supporting Food is Free Bay Area: Because a healthy democracy includes taking care of our community, we are hosting a food drive right alongside the rally. Please bring canned goods and shelf-stable items to drop off in the Chevy’s parking lot. Check out their amazing food rescue work at fifbayarea.org.
• Action: Please sign up here so we know you’re coming!

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Reclaim Our Vote “Write & Hold” Postcard Party
• Location: Vallejo Private Residence (Address sent upon RSVP)
• Keep the momentum going after the rally! Reclaim Our Vote is gearing up for the critical midterm elections, and we need your hands, and your passion! Between now and October, we are launching “Write and Hold” postcard campaigns, getting out the vote in areas of the country where there is ongoing voter suppression. We will be urging people to vote by writing to BIPOC voters in five key states: North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Texas, and Alabama. Every month, we will focus on a different state—writing the cards now and holding them to mail right when it matters most, closer to the election.
• How to Join: Email Geri Kahn at rov.solanocounty@gmail.com to RSVP and get the address.

📬 Can’t make it this Saturday? You can still help!
Come write with us at a future event! We have scheduled upcoming Saturday postcard parties from 2:00pm – 4:00pm on August 22 or September 26

o Locations: Parties will be held in Vallejo. Address provided upon RSVP!
o Want to host? If you’d like to host a party on a different date, let Geri know!
o Write from home: No problem! Email us, and we will prep a packet of postcards for you to pick up at Geri’s office so you can write from home.

Let’s make a difference!

In solidarity,
Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible

MORE: www.goodtroubleliveson.org.

GOOD TROUBLE WEEKEND – ALL OVER THE BAY AREA…

MORE ALL OVER THE BAY AREA: Go to goodtroubleliveson.org and enter your zip code. Then click a city on the big map to get details.

GOOD TROUBLE EVENTS IN BENICIA IN RECENT YEARS…

U.S. Representative and beloved activist John Lewis…

“From a small farm in Alabama, to life-risking service in the civil rights movement, to three decades in Congress, he was always ‘walking with the wind,’ steered by a moral compass that told him when to make good trouble and when to heal troubled waters. Always true to his word, his faith, and his principles, John Lewis became the conscience of the nation.”
– Former President Bill Clinton and Former Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, Associated Press, July 18, 2020

Democracy under attack, Good Trouble, Labor Day, Local vigilance

Labor Day in Benicia – Rally on Monday, September 1, 10:30am

17 July 2025 Benicia, Photo by Mary DeShaw

Labor Day Rally, sponsored by Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible
Monday, September 1 – 10:30am – 12pm PDT
Benicia Gazebo Park, 150 Military, Benicia, CA  [MAP]

Join Indivisible Vallejo and Benicia this Labor Day as we come together in solidarity with communities across the country. Working people built this nation, and we know how to take care of one another. We will not back down—we will never stop fighting for our families and the freedoms that ensure opportunity and a better life for all.
FOOD DRIVE – We’ll also be collecting donations for the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano—help feed our neighbors and support families in need. (The Food Bank cannot accept glass containers, food one year past its ‘best by’ date, open or partially-used products, alcohol, food without nutrition labels, or any frozen or refrigerated foods.)

NON-VIOLENCE – A core principle behind all Indivisible events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.

LABOR DAY RALLIES – IN BENICIA
& ALL OVER THE BAY AREA…
Benicia Gazebo, corner of First & Military Streets

>> IN BENICIA / VALLEJO: September 1, 10:30am at the Gazebo in Benicia City Park (map: First and Military Streets) – see more above.

> ALL OVER THE BAY AREA: Go to  MOBILIZE.US for info about Labor Day rallies in El Sobrante, Pittsburg and Oakland.

Nearly 1,000 ‘Workers Over Billionaires’ Protests Planned Across US for 2025 Labor Day – Common Dreams

Democracy under attack, Good Trouble, Labor Day, Local vigilance, May Day Strong

Nearly 1,000 ‘Workers Over Billionaires’ Protests Planned Across US for Labor Day

“This is about workers showing up and demanding what workers deserve all across the country,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Common Dreams, by Stephen Prager, August 29, 2025

Unions and progressive organizations are planning nearly 1,000 “Workers Over Billionaires” demonstrations across the United States this Labor Day to protest President Donald Trump’s assault on workers’ rights.

The day of national action has been organized by the May Day Strong coalition, which includes labor organizations like the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, and National Union of Healthcare Workers, as well as advocacy groups like Americans for Tax Fairness, Indivisible, Our Revolution, and Public Citizen.

“Labor and community are planning more than a barbecue on Labor Day this year because we have to stop the billionaire takeover,” the coalition says. “Billionaires are stealing from working families, destroying our democracy, and building private armies to attack our towns and cities.”

Since coming into office, the Trump administration has waged war on workers’ rights. Among many other actions, his administration has stripped over a million federal workers of their right to collectively bargain in what has been called the largest act of union busting in American history and dramatically cut their wages.

He has also weakened workplace safety enforcement, eliminated rules that protected workers against wage theft, and proposed eliminating the federal minimum wage for more than 3.7 million childcare and home workers.

Despite Trump’s efforts, Americans still believe in the power of collective action. According to a Gallup poll published Thursday, 68% of Americans say they approve of labor unions, the highest level of support since the mid-1960s.

“Just like any bad boss, the way we stop the takeover is with collective action,” the coalition says on its website.

The May Day Strong coalition previously organized hundreds of thousands of workers to take to the streets for International Workers Day, more commonly known as “May Day.” On Monday, rallies are once again expected across all 50 states.

Four months later, their list of grievances has grown even longer, with Republicans having since passed a tax cut expected to facilitate perhaps the largest upward transfer of wealth in US history, featuring massive tax breaks for the wealthy paid for with historic cuts to the social safety net.

“There are nearly 1,000 billionaires in the country with a whopping $6 trillion, and that is still not enough for them,” said Saqib Bhattie, executive director of the Action Center on Race and the Economy, another group participating in the protests. “They are pushing elected officials to slash Medicaid, [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits, and special education funding for schools in order to fund their tax breaks. We need to claw back money from the billionaire. We need to push legislation to tax billionaires at the state and local levels. We need to organize to build the people power necessary to overcome their money.”

The group also plans to respond to Trump’s lawless attacks on immigrants and his militarized takeovers of American cities.

“This Labor Day,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, “we continue the fight for our democracy, the fight for the soul of our nation, the fight against the vindictive authoritarian moves Trump and the billionaire class aimed at stealing from working people and concentrating power.”

“This is about workers showing up and demanding what workers deserve all across the country,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “This Labor Day is really different, because it’s not just labor unions, as important as we may be to the workers we represent. It has to be all workers and all working families saying enough. Workers and working families deserve the bounty of the country.”

May Day Strong will host a national “mass call” online on Saturday. The locations of the hundreds of protests on Monday can be found using the map on May Day Strong’s website.

Democracy under attack, Good Trouble, John Lewis, Local vigilance

PHOTOS: Benicia crowd of 350 made ‘good trouble’ at City Park

GOOD TROUBLE LIVES ON – in Benicia!

By Roger Straw, The Benicia Independent, July 20, 2025

 

Benicia Not My Presidents Day 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

 

A large crowd of Benicians & Vallejoans joined the nationwide protest honoring the late John R. Lewis and protesting the Trump administration.  On July 17, about 350 gathered around the Gazebo in City Park with creative signs, chants and cheers, good music, fabulous speakers, voter registration, a food drive – and even a bubble machine!

“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble.” – John Lewis

SLIDESHOW – scenes from the event…
[Many thanks to Benician Mary DeShaw of ProBonoPhoto.org for the photos.]

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The local action in Benicia was part of Good Trouble Lives On — a nationwide day of peaceful, nonviolent action rooted in the legacy of the civil rights movement and inspired by John Lewis’ call to make “good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Participants from Vallejo and Benicia gathered to demand an end to the authoritarian attacks on our freedom to vote, protest, and organize — and to stand united against efforts to criminalize our communities, roll back our rights, and slash vital public programs.

The event was cosponsored by Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible, League of Women Voters Solano and the Vallejo-Benicia AAUW, along with organizers of  Benicia’s EVERY Thursday 5-6pm vigil for democracy.

Speakers included Rami Muth of League of Women Voters Solano; Dr. Tonia Lediju, Vallejo City Council; Kari Birdseye, Benicia City Council; Rev. Dr. Mary Susan Gast, Benicia Poet Laureate Emerita; and Helen-Marie ‘Cookie’ Gordon, Vallejo City Council.

Roger Straw, The Benicia Independent

It was a joyful but demanding crowd. 350 of us stood united in calling for an end to the Trump administration’s many moves to end our beautiful multicultural democracy.

Roger Straw
The Benicia Independent