Annapolis Among Cities To Host Rallies, Activities In Honor Of Late Rep. John Lewis

By William J. Ford, Maryland Matters

July 16, 2025

The name of Rep. John Lewis can still draw a crowd — or more than 1,600 crowds, as will apparently be the case Thursday.

That’s when as many as 150,000 people are signed up to attend “Good Trouble Lives On” rallies in cities across the country, including Annapolis, which has been designated one of just four anchor cities nationally for larger commemorations.

The events are being held as part of the fifth annual John Lewis National Day of Action, to mark the anniversary of Lewis’ death in 2020, at age 80. More than 40 events of varying sizes are planned in Maryland alone.

“John Lewis is somebody I have a tremendous amount of respect for,” said Carl Snowden, convener of the Council of African American Leaders and a scheduled speaker at the Annapolis event. “I think John Lewis would be the first to tell people, ‘If you want this democracy to work, you must be engaged in that democracy.’”

Lewis, a civil rights icon, served 34 years in the U.S. House where the Georgia Democrat came to be known as the “conscience of the Congress.” He was among the speakers at the 1963 March on Washington, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

In March 1965, Lewis was severely beaten in March 1963 on “Bloody Sunday,” when a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, was set upon by Alabama state troopers as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Five months later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.

Parren Mitchell, the first Black member of Congress from Maryland, was honored with a memorial.

The day of action has been held annually since his death, but this year’s is by far the largest, driven in part by reaction to the administration of President Donald Trump (R). Event organizers said that, as of Tuesday evening, more than 150,000 people had RSVP’d to more than 1,600 rallies in all 50 states and a handful of international cities.

Before this year, said Daryl Jones, co-leader and board chair of the Transformative Justice Coalition, one of the organizations leading the rally efforts, the most rallies in a year had been 120. Jones, a former Anne Arundel County councilmember, said one main reason for the high expected turnout is Trump, particularly after congressional passage this month of the so-called big, beautiful bill

“People are offended by it and people want to respond, but they need an avenue to respond. This provides them with that avenue,” he said.

For the first time this year, event organizers set up a few anchor cities where people can congregate in a larger setting: Lewis’ home city of Atlanta; St. Louis; Oakland, California; and Annapolis.

Jones said Annapolis was chosen for a couple of reasons, such as its history as a port city during slavery.

“Number two, Maryland has a Black governor and the nation’s only African American governor,” he said. “It is a symbol of overcoming the odds. That’s where we are right now as a democracy is that we need to overcome the odds.”

Organizers invited Gov. Wes Moore (D), but a spokesperson said Monday it was “unclear” if the governor would be able to attend.

One elected official who plans to attend is Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd), her office confirmed Thursday. She is expected to have a speaking role, along with Evelyn DeJesus, executive vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, which filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education to block its plan to withhold federal funds from schools that refuse to end their diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Snowden said Lewis’ “good trouble” presence can still be seen in Annapolis, citing the congressman’s “personal” endorsement of the Civil Rights Foot Soldiers Memorial, which remembers those from the area who were among the 250,000 in attendance at the March on Washington. That memorial was dedicated Aug. 28, 2013, on the 50th anniversary of the march.

The Annapolis event will start with marches from different points in town, to evoke memories of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, before ending up on Lawyer’s Mall by the State House at 6 p.m. for a rally.

Dozens of smaller events and activities are scheduled across the state, including 13 in Montgomery County alone.

Elly Shaw-Belblidia will join people holding signs and waving at motorists while standing near the Rockville Metro station. The focus, she said, will be to follow Lewis’s mantra of nonviolence and “getting in good trouble,” and to express displeasure with the Trump administration and the “horrible” experience of watching “the Republicans cave in on that [spending bill] legislation last week.”

“Holding signs and waving at people driving by is a way to express yourselves,” she said. “Peaceful. Joyful. Trying to keep people’s faith up.”