by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Several hundred demonstrators took to Indian Hill and Foothill boulevards in Claremont Thursday as part of the nationwide “Good Trouble Lives On” protest.

The protest took its name from and honored late civil rights activist and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, who died five years ago Thursday, and famously said, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Members of Service Employees International Union Local 2015 at Thursday’s “Good Trouble Lives On” protest in Claremont. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The local protest was led by Indivisible Claremont/Inland Valley Action Group and featured support from members of Service Employees International Union Local 2015, California’s largest labor union representing home care, skilled nursing facility, and assisted living center workers.

Thursday’s protest follows several that have taken place at the intersection in recent weeks, all to voice displeasure with policies and actions of the Trump administration.

Glendora resident Paulette Koss felt compelled to make her voice heard on Thursday.

“How can anyone not be protesting that loves democracy?” Koss asked. “History is looking at us right now, and history is going to ask all of us: what did you do? What did you do to keep Trump from becoming a dictator? And I don’t have children, but I want history to know that Paulette Koss did something.”

Claremont resident Paul Faulstich held a sign reading, “Fascism ahead.”

Fontana resident Michael, who declined to give his last name, at Thursday’s “Good Trouble Lives On” protest. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

“We have to all come together in the spirit of good trouble and make a difference,” Faulstich said. “There are too many reasons to recount for a newspaper article. I mean, the list goes on and on, and it’s just getting longer with every passing week. There’s madness, democracy is fading, and it scares the heck out me.”

Rachelle Lewis of Service Employees International Union Local 2015 cited recent upheaval in the U.S. Senate as a reason she was protesting.

“We have in the Senate disruption, hate, discrimination, just a lot of unloving things in our Senate,” Lewis said. “We want to make sure that the people know in California, LA County, that we’re here in support of Medicare, Medi-Cal, and immigration rights, because our Constitution says that you have the right to speak and you have the right of freedom.”

Many demonstrators stressed the need for unity.

“The message is we need to be together because together we are powerful in these times of this administration,” said Beatrize Morales, a member with Service Employees International Union Local 2015. “We need to be conscious that we need to work together, to be a strong base, to be empowered.”

Curt, who did not provide his last name, echoed another familiar theme at Thursday’s protest.

“I don’t understand how anybody could look at this moment in time in our history and say, ‘This is normal. This is politics. This is good. This is for the people,’” Curt said. “It’s not for the people. It’s not good. It’s not normal. It’s not politics. It is a power grab. They are trying to establish a technocratic feudalism where the rich rule and everybody else gets f—ed.”