For Maya, suspended for quoting the First Amendment.
For Emily, who kept filing.
For the teacher.
For the veteran.
For the mother.
For the 91.
And for the ones already afraid to speak.
Dissent is not a glitch in democracy. It’s the whole damn operating system.
That’s what John Lewis meant when he said: *Get in good trouble. Necessary trouble.*¹⁸
No kings. That’s still the point.
But today, we don’t whisper it.
We shout it.
We bang pots.
We read banned books aloud in parks.
We drag folding chairs to courthouses and wait.
We walk in together.
We count together.
We refuse together.
Because the absence of sound is where crowns thrive.
And nothing breaks that hush like good trouble.
Bibliography
1. New York Civil Liberties Union. “NYC Comptroller Brad Lander Detained by DHS While Accompanying Immigrant to Court.” Legal Statement, May 2025. Documents Lander’s detention and video evidence confirming lack of warrant authority.
2. Padilla, Alex. Statement to the Press , June 2025. Describes unlawful detention of a sitting senator during unauthorized troop deployment.
3. Georgia Civil Liberties Alliance. “Librarian Arrested Under Educational Integrity Act.” July 2025. Reports on criminalization of library workers.