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‘Good Trouble’ comes home: Lewis Foundation gala to make Atlanta debut

John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation annual gala honors civil rights icons and local changemakers.
In this photo, John Lewis is joined at a campaign rally by his wife, Lillian, and son, John-Miles, with Zell Miller in the background. (Dwight Ross Jr./AJC file)

Credit: Dwight Ross Jr.

In this photo, John Lewis is joined at a campaign rally by his wife, Lillian, and son, John-Miles, with Zell Miller in the background. (Dwight Ross Jr./AJC file)
By
May 28, 2025

John Lewis spent 33 years in Washington representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, but Atlanta was always home.

That’s why the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation is eager to bring its annual Good Trouble Gala to the city for the first time.

The late U.S. Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga., poses for a portrait in front of his newly unveiled art exhibit "John Lewis-Good Trouble" in the atrium of the domestic terminal at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, on April 8, 2019. (Alyssa Pointer/AJC/TNS)

Credit: TNS

The late U.S. Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga., poses for a portrait in front of his newly unveiled art exhibit "John Lewis-Good Trouble" in the atrium of the domestic terminal at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, on April 8, 2019. (Alyssa Pointer/AJC/TNS)

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Billye Suber Aaron, the wife of baseball legend Hank Aaron, receives the Presidential Award of Service during the 137th commencement celebration at Morehouse College on Sunday, May 16, 2021. (Steve Schaefer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Credit: Steve Schaefer

Billye Suber Aaron, the wife of baseball legend Hank Aaron, receives the Presidential Award of Service during the 137th commencement celebration at Morehouse College on Sunday, May 16, 2021. (Steve Schaefer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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From left to right: Lonnie G. Bunch, Julian Bond, John Lewis and Andrew Young are photographed as members of the panel "Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement: Views from the Front Line," held at the Civil Rights Summit at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas, on April 9, 2014. (Courtesy of Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Credit: Rodolfo Gonzalez

From left to right: Lonnie G. Bunch, Julian Bond, John Lewis and Andrew Young are photographed as members of the panel "Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement: Views from the Front Line," held at the Civil Rights Summit at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas, on April 9, 2014. (Courtesy of Rodolfo Gonzalez)

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Rep. John Lewis, right, and President Barack Obama embrace at the dedication ceremony for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington on Sept. 24, 2016. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
Rep. John Lewis, right, and President Barack Obama embrace at the dedication ceremony for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington on Sept. 24, 2016. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

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About the Author

Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.