Good Trouble Lives On in Peabody

Below is a picture of John Lewis in 1961 after being arrested.

John Lewis broke the law. In places like Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, and others, segregation and Jim Crow laws restricted the freedom of people based on race. So, Lewis and many civil rights advocates sought out ways to break these laws. To their critics, these people were just stirring up trouble. For instance, Lewis was part of a group called the Freedom Riders, that boarded buses in the north in mixed race groups and deliberately went to places where these kind of "woke" seating arrangements offended local laws and racist sensitivities.

In South Carolina and Alabama, Lewis and the others were set upon by angry crowds and beaten bloody. In Mississippi, the Freedom Riders were arrested and sent to a prison farm, but this didn't stop the Freedom Riders. More and more arrived in the state, filling the jails.

In one way, critics of the civil rights movement were right, folks like John Lewis and the Freedom Riders, they were there to stir up trouble. But, as Lewis said, this was good trouble. Necessary trouble. When you live in a country where the laws are fashioned into tools of oppression and racial supremacy, all free people have a natural duty to oppose that system and to refuse to cooperate with such laws.

On July 17, 2025, our campaign helped organize a candlelight vigil under the monument in Peabody Square. This was part of a nationwide effort to host actions in honor of John Lewis and to recommit ourselves to the cause of civil liberties and human rights.

As this campaign has said before, Peabody is under the greatest threat it has ever faced in its history. The cruel incompetency of the Trump Administration and their ideology of bigotry and hatred is having real-world consequences. These monsters are reaching into the pockets of the elderly and the disabled in Peabody, making it harder to support themselves and get necessary health care. They are seeking to knock books out of the hands of Peabody students and pull funding from Peabody schools. Worst of all, they have no issue with disregarding the basic human rights of Peabody residents - immigrants and citizens - when politically expedient.

Peabody can ill afford to elect leaders who shy away from these important issues and those who are part of the Republican establishment that has empowered Trump. We need elected leaders with the sound judgement and courage to make good trouble - necessary trouble - when it is required.

If elected city councillor, at-large, Tristan will be an advocate for the democracy, rule of law, and the human rights of all of our residents. He will always be an advocate for working people and do whatever it takes to fight authoritarianism and bigotry in all forms.

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