The Audacity of Action: Why 'Good Trouble' Is the Only Way Forward

There is a particular kind of stress that settles deep in your bones when the world feels like it’s spinning off its axis. This past week, leading up to my birthday, I’ve felt it more acutely than ever. It isn’t the quiet anxiety of another year passing; it's a profound, soul-wearying frustration born from watching the inaction of those around me juxtaposed with the brazen, callous inhumanity that floods our screens and streets. It is the exhaustion that comes from seeing hate, in real time, met with silence.

If you know me personally, you know my default setting is calm and collected. It’s a conscious choice, a learned practice to manage a fiery temper I once allowed to rule me. But some moments demand that fire. This week, especially, I have had to step out of my carefully cultivated peace to check people, to reprimand them, and, to put it plainly, to “get with them.” I did it publicly and without apology. I did it in the name of what the late, great Congressman John Lewis called “Good Trouble.”

This concept, “Good Trouble,” has become a popular catchphrase, but to treat it as such is to dilute its explosive, transformative power. Good Trouble is not simply political protest or an act of rebellion. It is a profound moral commitment. It is the conscious decision to disrupt an unjust peace, to challenge a status quo that is comfortable for some but crushing for others. It is the unwavering belief that standing up for what is right matters more than adhering to polite social contracts or even, at times, unjust laws. It is about confronting wrongdoing directly, no matter the consequence. And in an era where it is dangerously easy to confuse a retweet with resistance, we must rediscover the potent, world-changing history of getting organized and making some real trouble.

The Blueprint of Disruption: A Legacy of Organized Trouble

To understand where we must go, we must honor where we have been. The architecture of modern American progress was not drafted in quiet, congenial boardrooms; it was forged in the fire of organized disruption. The Civil Rights Movement is the quintessential and most powerful case study in the effectiveness of Good Trouble.

When young John Lewis and his comrades in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) sat down at a whites-only lunch counter in Nashville in 1960, they were not just hungry for a meal. They were hungry for dignity. Their action was not spontaneous; it was a meticulously planned, highly disciplined campaign of nonviolent resistance. They were trained in how to endure insults, assaults, and arrests without retaliating. They understood that their arrests, the images of them being dragged from stools and abused, would expose the brutal sickness of segregation to the world. That was Good Trouble.

From this fertile ground of strategic disruption, powerful organizations bloomed. SNCC, led by passionate students, risked their lives to register Black voters in the deepest, most dangerous parts of the Mississippi Delta. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), under the guidance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., mobilized the moral and logistical power of the Black church, organizing boycotts like the one in Montgomery that broke the back of bus segregation.

Simultaneously, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) waged its war in the courtrooms. Their legal arm, led by the brilliant Thurgood Marshall, spent decades chipping away at the legal foundation of "separate but equal," culminating in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. This illustrates a critical point: Good Trouble is multifaceted. It is the march on the bridge and the meticulously crafted legal brief. It is the boycott of the bus and the argument before the Supreme Court.

And woven into the very fabric of this movement were our Black Greek Lettered Organizations (BGLOs). Sororities and fraternities within the Divine Nine were not merely social clubs; they were—and remain—powerhouses of activism, community organizing, and leadership development. They provided safe havens for strategic planning, raised crucial funds, and produced a legion of leaders who populated the ranks of every major civil rights organization. Their commitment to scholarship, service, and social action is a foundational pillar of Good Trouble in the Black community.

The legacy of these coordinated efforts is written in our law books. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were not gifts handed down by benevolent politicians. They were concessions demanded by a populace that made the cost of maintaining injustice too high. They were the direct result of a generation that got into sustained, organized, and necessary trouble. This same blueprint applies to nearly every major social advancement: the women's suffrage movement chaining themselves to the White House gates; the labor movement's strikes that gave us the 40-hour workweek; the Stonewall uprising that ignited the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Progress is never given; it is always, always demanded.

The Present Danger and the Fierce Urgency of Now

Today, we find ourselves at a perilous crossroads where the victories won through decades of Good Trouble are being systematically dismantled. Voting rights are being gutted by state legislatures. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are being demonized and defunded. History is being whitewashed in our schools, and a relentless firehose of disinformation seeks to confuse, divide, and breed apathy.

I have seen the cost of this inaction in my own life. When my son, who has an IEP, was being harassed and attacked at school, his rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and his right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) were violated. I did not send a polite email and hope for the best. I made Good Trouble. I took on the school district, documented every failure, and reported them to the state. The state investigated and found the district guilty, agreeing with my report.

But my trouble doesn’t stop with one victory. I will continue to push, to advocate, to demand until my son has every resource he needs to thrive—and until every single child with a disability in the state of Georgia is afforded the same. This week, that same protective fire ignited when I watched a man belligerently yell at and demean our school’s principal and teachers in front of a crowd of parents and students. In a disappointing display of silence, not a single other man intervened. So, I did. I confronted him publicly, because leaders, especially female leaders, will not be disrespected and abused on my watch. We must protect our protectors.

I am a self-proclaimed Trouble Maker. I have accepted this mantle because I understand that the alternative—silence in the face of injustice—is a form of complicity. My stress and my anger are not burdens; they are fuel. They are a compass pointing me toward the next fight.

From Bystander to Barrier-Breaker: Your Call to Organized Action

The feeling of being overwhelmed is understandable, but it must be a catalyst, not a cage. The antidote to despair is not hope; it is action. It’s time to move beyond solitary anger and find your place in a collective fight. If you are looking around, wondering what you can do, the answer is simple: get organized.

You do not need to start a new movement from scratch. The infrastructure already exists. If you live in DeKalb County, Georgia, the DeKalb County Democratic Party is an essential place to start. Don't be intimidated. Go to a meeting. Join a committee. I currently serve as the Chair of the Special Events Committee, and it's a space where we turn ideas into action, engaging the community and empowering voters. Participating in your local political party is ground zero for understanding how power works and how you can influence it. You’ll learn about local elections that have a more direct impact on your daily life than national ones, meet the people running to be your judges and commissioners, and find a role that fits your skills, whether it’s phone banking, event planning, or policy research.

If you are a member of a social justice organization or a Black Greek Lettered Organization, it is time to reactivate and re-engage on a deeper level. Your organization was founded on the principles of service and uplift. Honor that legacy. Bring proposals to your chapter meetings. Organize voter registration drives. Host community forums. Use your established network to mobilize for the causes that are under threat. Our collective power is immense, but only if it is harnessed.

Find your lane. Good Trouble requires an army with diverse talents. Some will march in the streets. Others will write the press releases. Some will be the plaintiffs in lawsuits, while others will raise the money for the legal fees. Some will run for office, while others will knock on doors to get them elected. Some will testify at school board meetings, while others will provide childcare so another parent can attend. All of it matters. All of it is Good Trouble.

We cannot afford the luxury of waiting for a hero. We must be the heroes we are waiting for. The work ahead is not easy, but it is necessary. It is the price we pay for a just society and the legacy we owe to future generations. Let us transform our righteous anger into relentless action. Let us honor the sacrifices of our ancestors by becoming troublemakers for our time. Find your people, find your fight, and let’s get into some good, necessary, and beautifully organized trouble. The future of this country depends on it.