Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
‘Good Trouble’ rally held in Fairfield
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – Fairfield’s Central Park hosted a political rally on Thursday, July 17.
The name of the rally was “Good Trouble Lives on – National Day of Action,” and was organized by Indivisible Iowa – Jefferson County. The event sought to honor the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a leader in the Civil Rights movement who popularized the term “good trouble” to describe his activism and that of the Civil Rights movement.
One of the organizers of the event, Holly Moore, remarked after the rally that, “We were really happy to see so many participants from all over Southeast Iowa. It’s a good reflection of our determination to restore balance to our government and serve all people.”
The rally featured both speeches and music. Singer and musician Jonas Magram performed a number of songs, including one he wrote.
“Rallies like this, honoring heroes like John Lewis, are important to inspire and embolden those committed to protecting our democracy and the future of our nation and planet,” Magram said. “I was honored to participate.”
While speakers and rally-goers congregated around the Ron Prill bandstand, another group lined Burlington Avenue with political signs to show to passing cars. Among those holding signs were Doug Buttikofer and John Kuster. Buttikofer’s sign read “Citizens for Democracy” with a list of things crossed out such as “dictators,” “fascism,” “racism,” and “billionaire welfare.”
Buttikofer said his family worked to make the country better, with his father serving in World War II, his great-great grandfather fighting for the north in the Civil War, and his brother, who died fighting in Vietnam. Buttikofer himself was in the Special Forces.
“To see what’s happening to our military, being abused, misused, and everything that America stands for in the world has kind of been turned upside down, based on the whims of somebody who has his own interests at the fore,” Buttikofer said.
Kuster’s sign read “All we are saying is give kindness a chance,” a play on the song “Give Peace a Chance” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. He said he chose those words because he’s been “struck by the cruelty and fear engendered by this administration, the intimidation of people in the media, in universities, our neighbors who come from other countries, and people working two jobs who are being told their health care is going to be cut.”
One of the speakers was John McKerley, a former member of the Fairfield school board and former historian at the University of Iowa Labor Center from 2013-2023. He spoke about the connections between the labor movement and the broader themes of the rally about the direction of the state and country.
McKerley said he was most concerned by what he called the “attacks on the civil service, especially unionized civil service workers in the last several months.” He said his remarks focused on highlighting the termination of those workers without proper process, and attacks on collective bargaining rights.
“I would love to see a time again when we have bipartisan majorities in favor of pro-labor, education, and civil rights policies,” he said. “I would be happy to work with any Republicans who want to work on those issues in good faith. At least right now, however, I don’t see many of them at the state or national levels.”
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
