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Alice Smith, executive director National Voter Corps, speaks out against the SAVE Act at the July 17 rally. Photo by Grace Gormley 
Attendees at the “Good Trouble Lives On” rally in Palo Alto chat while one holds a sign overhead. Photo by Grace Gormley 
State Sen. Josh Becker criticized the Trump Administration during the July 17 rally in Palo Alto. Photo by Grace Gormley 
A young activist raises a sign. Photo by Grace Gormley 
Activists attend the “Good Trouble Lives On” rally in Palo Alto on July 17, 2025. Photo by Grace Gormley 
“We did it once. We will do it again,” said Paige McKerral, dressed in the typical suffragette outfit of the early 1900s. Photo by Grace Gormley 
A sign references the poem “First they came…” by German pastor Martin Niemöller. Photo by Grace Gormley 
Matt Schlegel of the Mitchell Park Band plays the guitar as the crowd chants, “This is what democracy looks like.” Photo by Grace Gormley
Hundreds crowded into King Plaza outside City Hall on July 17 at Palo Alto’s “Good Trouble Lives On” event, which honors the legacy of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon and longtime fighter for voting rights.
The event featured speakers, information tables and musical performances, and joined more than a thousand other “Good Trouble Lives On” events across the country. In Palo Alto, leaders hoped to inspire attendees and provide information on opportunities to get involved in the fight for voting rights.
The lead organizer of the event, Linda Henigin, said, “Every issue that anyone cares about is a voting rights issue, because if we don’t have free and fair elections with universal access to the ballot, then we can’t elect people who will represent our views and our concerns,” she said.
The events were hosted on the fifth anniversary of Lewis’ passing, and the name of the event comes from Lewis’ final essay, in which he writes, “Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Palo Alto’s event also featured a broad range of messages. Many were anti-Trump, with signs reading “Trump is the tyrant Jefferson warned us about,” or “Dump Trump,” and California senator Josh Becker called him “the bully of all bullies” in his speech.
However, the crowd and speakers were focused on protecting the right to vote – which Lewis described in his essay as “the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society.”
Mariya Genzel, founder of It’s Blue Turn, is from a family of Jewish refugees from Minsk, then in the Soviet Union.
“In the Soviet Union, all elections were rigged,” she said. “When I was finally able to get citizenship and be able to vote, that right is obviously supremely precious.”
She described the right to vote as “the root of every other right, all other freedoms,” and her organization was one of many at the event which support voter rights in various ways. It’s Blue Turn, the Center for Common Ground, the League of Women Voters Palo Alto and other organizations present participate in activities to encourage registration and voting, like sending handwritten postcards, door-knocking and phone calls. More than a dozen groups hosted tables at the event, providing opportunities for attendees to get involved.
Henigin said that these action tables will help people find things to do in between bigger events like protests.
“We need to be working all the time and not only are we showing up to big events – that’s important, it’s providing social proof to other people that they’re not alone – but in addition, we also need to be taking action in between,” she said.
Speakers included Alice Smith from the National Voter Corps, who informed attendees about the new SAVE Act, a proposal that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote. That’s something that, according to the Brennan Center’s research, is not easily accessible to almost 10% of eligible voters.
Gregg Castro of the Ramaytush Ohlone Tribe sang a song to guide people out of a fog. The Raging Grannies of the SF Peninsula hosted a sing-along. LaDoris Cordell, a retired Superior Court judge served as the emcee.
Even 94-year-old attorney Clarence Jones – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s personal counsel, advisor and friend – stood to speak to the crowd.
“John Lewis carries the spirit (of freedom) and exemplifies the spirit, and his courage, his leadership, his inspiration lives on,” Jones said.
Carolyn Hoskins, founder of the Domini Hoskins Black History Museum and Learning Center, also spoke at the event. She honored the importance of Civil Rights Movement leaders like Lewis’ fight, but emphasized that there is work to be done.
“They have given us the tools to work with and now we need to put our boots on the ground and fight for education, fight for equal rights for all people, fight for the right to vote,” she said.
It was a GREAT event!