ATLANTA — Communities across the country held rallies to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the passing of Rep. John Lewis.
They are also part of a National Day of Action called “Good Trouble Lives On.”
Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers went to a rally that started at the mural of Lewis along Auburn Avenue and then marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, where several speakers talked to the crowd of a few hundred.
They said it’s important to uphold Lewis’ legacy.
Georgia NAACP President Gerald Griggs said the congressman was a mentor to him and believes that if he were alive today, he would still be advocating for issues like voting, housing, and immigration rights.
“It’s important to continue to lift up the legacy of the honorable Congressman John Lewis in his advocacy of civil rights,” Griggs told Rogers.
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A block party was set to take place later in the evening near Ebenezer Baptist Church.
These events were just a few of many across the Atlanta area and the country.
Channel 2’s Steve Gehlbach was in DeKalb County earlier in the day, where people lined the sidewalks and waved signs at passing cars along Clairmont Road.
A large group demonstrated before the heat of the day, with support for things like vets, public broadcasting, the CDC, and messages against President Donald Trump and his administration.
“It’s one way to have our voices heard, really gives us a feeling of hope and unity because there’s a lot going on out here that we don’t approve of,” said Anne Hughes, who organized the rally.
Among the demonstrators was Jean Harsch, who told Gehlbach that she and her late husband had hosted Lewis’ first launch for office.
“It’s not quite as exciting as the day he was in our backyard, but it’s close,” Harsch said.
“When we were young, people… we were really on the street,” Hughes said.
They say this National Day Action on the anniversary of his passing honors Lewis and his fight. ,
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