July 17, 2025, marked 5 years since former democratic congressman John Lewis passed away. In his remembrance people from around the country took part in “good trouble” rallies. Christine Bylewski who took to Niagara Square yesterday to join a locally held rally told BTPM she’s “sick” of what she’s seeing from the current administration.
"Well, I think, like so many other Americans, were sick and tired of all the bad trouble, of the ICE raids, the discrimination against immigrants. It's absolutely disgusting. It's amoral. So I'm here to make good trouble, like John Lewis said."
Deborah Neary a fellow Western New York Native, shared a similar sentiment.
"Well, I agree with what my friend Chris said. This is what's going on is just unbelievable. And all the hurt and pain that this administration is causing people, financially, mentally, emotionally, it's just deplorable, and I'm here to resist it."
The protest drew a sizable crowd and featured numerous current politicians as speakers such as Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz who mentioned that Buffalo had a big impact on the former congressman's life.
"Buffalo had a huge impact on his life. He grew up in Alabama, , but he had family members that lived in Buffalo in the summers. His family would send him up to his aunts and uncles, and it was the first time he said that he realized that there could be equality because a black person was being served by a white person."
Like the rest of the rallies attendees Poloncarz also lamented over policies being championed by President Trump's administration. He mentioned in order for things to change you have to start small and work your way up.
"This has been a 30 to 50 year effort by members of the conservative movement to really flip our country. They hated what FDR did. They hated what LBJ did, and they looked at it, starting with the Reagan administration, and say we need to change things. They started small and worked their way up big. And I'm saying this because it's the same way we have to rebut this. The road to winning the White House back in 2028 and flipping Congress next year starts this year."
Poloncarz went on to further urge the rally attendees to be civically engaged locally, making note that democrats once controlled Hamburg, Cheektowaga, and Lancaster, all currently republican controlled towns.
