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Protesters walk and hold up signs during a “Good Trouble Lives On” demonstration in Houston on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
About 100 protesters gathered Thursday at Houston City Hall, calling out what they say are attacks on civil and human rights under President Donald Trump’s administration.
They marched from city hall to Discovery Green and back, chanting, “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” and, “Hey hey! Ho ho! Donald Trump has got to go!”
One of the event organizers, who identified himself as “Uncle Eagle,” said the protest was about more than Trump and his policies, such as cracking down on immigration to the U.S. and making wide-ranging cuts to the federal government.
“We’re here not just mad at the Trump organization, but we’re mad at the Whitmire here in Houston,” he said, referring to Houston Mayor John Whitmire, a Democrat who served decades as a Texas lawmaker before being elected mayor in 2023. “We’re mad at our city council. We’re just generally mad because the people’s voices aren’t being used or utilized or listened to.”
The Houston rally was one of several held across the region and among more than 1,600 “Good Trouble Lives On” protests held across the country on the fifth anniversary of the death of former U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat. Lewis, who was part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, famously encouraged people to get into “good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Houston-area residents took part in two other nationwide rallies against the Trump administration earlier this year. In June, an estimated crowd of 15,000 gathered at city hall for a “No Kings Day” protest. Two months earlier, more than 1,000 people gathered at city hall as part of the nationwide “50501” demonstrations.
One of Thursday’s protesters, 73-year-old James Schriver, said he has been civically active for 50 years, participating in protests during the Vietnam War and the United States’ invasion of Iraq.
“I think that the current administration is exceeding its lawful mandate and performing many illegal actions daily,” he said. “To make a list, I would have to bring it from home, because it’s a long list.”
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Protester Stacy Whaley writes a message in chalk during a “Good Trouble Lives On” demonstration in downtown Houston on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
Schriver carried a sign that read “No King Taco.” TACO stood for “Trump always chickens out,” referring to Trump’s pattern of imposing and then rolling back tariffs.
“Many people think that he is manipulating the market to help his billionaire buddies,” Schriver said.
Protester Stacy Whaley said the demonstrations could be characterized differently than the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That’s when Trump supporters tried to prevent the certification of the 2020 election results in favor of Joe Biden after Trump, who at the time was completing his first term as president, falsely claimed the election had been stolen from him.
“Good trouble versus trouble are two different things,” Whaley said. “When we get in good trouble, it’s doing it the proper way. It’s doing it, not like January 6th-ers, not being instigated by a sitting president to come and fight, fight, fight. It’s doing it peacefully.”
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Demonstrators walk in a line in downtown Houston during a “Good Trouble Lives On” protest on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
Whaley drew chalk art at city hall that read, “Trust the process. God is in control.”
“I’m a believer, and I know that,” she said. “But we also can’t sit around and twiddle our thumbs.”
Before the march, speakers from several grassroots organizations delivered speeches, including the Texas Organizing Project, Food Not Bombs, Indivisible Fort Bend, Parents of Trans Youth and Houston Federation of Teachers.
Sarah Roberts, a co-founder of Indivisible Fort Bend, spoke out against mid-decade redistricting efforts and gerrymandering. She urged people to register to vote and speak up.
Arnetta Murray, a teacher in Houston ISD representing the Houston Federation of Teachers, criticized the recently passed school voucher program in Texas, which will allow taxpayer dollars to be used for private school tuition. She also shared concern for her Latino students who have expressed fears about ramped-up enforcement of immigration laws under Trump.
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A protester draws on a sidewalk in downtown Houston during a “Good Trouble Lives On” demonstration on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
The local and nationwide protests were organized by a coalition of civil rights and activist groups, including the 50501 organization. Atalie Walding is a volunteer with 50501.
“A lot of people feel like protesting does nothing, but the first step of any kind of movement — and you have to move to have change — the first step is showing up,” she said. “So this is what I’m doing.”
Walding said she had been inspired by her first Black Lives Matters protest for George Floyd, the Black man who grew up in Houston and was murdered by a police officer in Minnesota in 2020. She described that protest as a “life-changing experience” and wanted to carry that spirit forward on Thursday.
“What I hope from today is at least one person has a conversation that changes their perspective or helps them feel empowered,” she said.