These days, good trouble isn’t hard to find

If you’re looking to make some good trouble, you don’t have to look too hard.

A variety of groups and causes are holding protests and marches and other events in and around Pittsburgh this summer.

Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, Breathe Pittsburgh, with more than 20 other organizations, is presenting “Pittsburgh’s Environmental Action Day.” The gathering, which aims to “send a message to our federal, state and local leaders that we must stand strong for people’s health and the environment,” starts on the front steps of Downtown’s City-County Building, the location of recent rallies including “No Kings” and “Stand with Immigrants.”

After hearing from several speakers, and the Raging Grannies at about 9:45 a.m., the rally is to march across Downtown to the DLC Riverwalk Plaza at 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd. for more “powerful testimonies” from front-line residents and information tables for a variety of groups.

Then, from 11:15 a.m. to around noon, there will be food available from some local Black-owned purveyors, and musical performances by DJ QRX (1Hood), Nash.V.Ill, LivefromtheCity, the Pittsburgh Labor Choir and Mike Stout.

Breathe Communications Manager NaTisha Washington tells the Union Progress that a key point they want to make is “how intersectional [environmental justice] to everything else happening in our lives,” including many of the other issues that people are protesting over. “We hope to get the message out loud and clear.”

Find details at https://breatheproject.org/event/join-us-for-world-environment-day-on-june-5th/.

From 2 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 84 will hold an “Enough is Enough” rally at its union hall at 841 California Ave. on the North Side. One worker says it’s “in response to the recent attacks/robberies of Pittsburgh carriers early last month in addition to the constant privatization threats by Congress.” 

So much is going on next week that it’s been dubbed “Good Trouble Week,” with events across the country honoring the legacy of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who coined “good trouble” to describe the action of coming together to take peaceful, nonviolent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change.

Good Trouble Week in Pittsburgh “is for you,” organizers write on https://www.goodtroublepgh.com, if “you’re angered by the erosion of voting rights, cuts to vital services, the disappearance of community members, or the crackdown on free speech and protest.”

Events include:

Tuesday: Good Trouble in the Streets

Indivisible Pittsburgh, Voting is Power Pittsburgh Regional Coalition and other grassroots groups are kicking off “Good Trouble Week: Pittsburgh” with this rally and march in Oakland “to say no to tech billionaires running universities and ending civil rights.” U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and President Donald Trump are to be at Carnegie Mellon University that day for the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit. The rally begins at Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard and then marches to Forbes and Beeler Street.

Thursday: John Lewis Day of Action

“Our rights are under attack. Our democracy is under siege. We’ve been here before, and we know what to do,” organizers write. “On July 17, we honor the anniversary of the passing of civil rights hero John Lewis, not with ceremonies, but with action. Good Trouble Lives On!” This event — featuring elected officials, music, voter registration, constituents writing letters to their representatives and a candlelight vigil — will run from 4 to 8 p.m. at Allegheny Commons Park West, 810 Arch Street on the North Side.

Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Saturday, July 19: Good Trouble Training Day

Indivisible Pittsburgh is hosting speakers, training, a community cookout and more from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pittsburgh Mennonite Church, 2018 S Braddock Ave. Keynote speaker is Kadida Natasha Kenner, executive director of the New Pennsylvania Project and co-chair of Why Courts Matter.

For more details and to RSVP, the goodtroublePGH site includes mobilize links for each event.

Also on Tuesday, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) Pittsburgh is relaunching to host a funeral procession in Oakland “to mourn the lives lost at the hands of politicians in the name of tax cuts for billionaires” — that is, by the passage of the recent budget reconciliation bill.

It’s to start at 11:30 a.m. at Fifth and Wilkins avenues and wind up at Schenley Plaza, where it’ll join other protestors.

ACT UP Pittsburgh’s Quincy Nolan said in a news release, “This bill will kill people with HIV in Pennsylvania and across the country, plain and simple. [U.S. Sen.]Dave McCormick and the Republicans in Congress have blood on their hands, and we will hold them accountable.”

Adds ACT UP Pittsburgh’s Benjamin Haake, “We will not die silently.”

Hot protest summer will roll on through July. Scheduled to hit the United Steelworkers headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh around noon on July 21 is the AFL-CIO’s 26-state bus tour, “It’s Better in a Union: Fighting for Freedom, Fairness and Security.”

A news release describes it like this: “While big corporations profit off the backs of working people and politicians continue to raise costs and cut essential lifesaving services, the labor movement will travel the country providing voice to and building power with workers in the lead up to Labor Day.”