July 17 marked the fifth anniversary of the passing of Rep. John Lewis. To honor this legend of the Civil Rights movement, “Good Trouble Lives On” rallies were held across the United States, including in Cortez. We had about 200 people turn out on a weekday morning in memory of a man who had spent his life fighting for voters rights, civil rights, and social justice.
The son of sharecroppers, Lewis grew up listening to radio broadcasts of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He participated in the Nashville, Tennessee, lunch counter sit-in in 1960 and became a Freedom Rider working to register Black voters.
On “Bloody Sunday,” March 7, 1965, Lewis and Hosea Williams led approximately 600 peaceful civil rights workers attempting to march to Montgomery, Alabama to advocate for voting rights. They were attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama by state troopers and local law enforcement; Lewis was so severely beaten he suffered a fractured skull and almost died. The violence of the march was televised and reports of Lewis’s injury, along with that of 58 others, shocked the nation and helped to generate support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The bill helped African Americans exercise their right to vote by providing federal oversight of discriminatory practices at the local and state level in areas with a history of discrimination. It was signed by President Lyndon Johnson on Aug. 6, 1965.
Lewis continued his civil rights work, registering Black voters and adhering to the movement’s philosophy of nonviolence. He represented Georgia’s 5th Congressional District from November 1986 until his death from pancreatic cancer in April 2020. He crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge one last time as his funeral procession carried him home.
His words, “Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America,” are perhaps his most famous and live on as reminders that every American must speak up and get into “good trouble” when then see something that isn’t right. Along with the privilege of living in this country comes the responsibility to protect our democracy for future generations.
On April 19, the League hosted, “Online Scammers, Fraud, and How To Protect Yourself,” a presentation by Sgt. Garett Talley of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office designed to provide information so attendees could avoid “bad trouble.” In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission reported that Americans were scammed out of $12.5 billion. Romance, investment, and tech support scams and business and government impostors were the top fraud categories for older Americans in 2023.
Constant vigilance is the best way to protect your sensitive information, i.e., usernames and passwords, credit card, Social Security, or Medicare or Medicaid numbers, and bank account information. Don’t be scared into acting hastily and sharing this information and do not open emails or click links in texts or emails from unknown senders. Opening embedded links or attachments can result in downloading malware that can compromise your personal data. Be skeptical, and if in doubt, delete and do nothing.
Sgt. Talley emphasized that an important way to protect personal information is to use strong passwords: Incorporate 12 or more figures; create a unique password for each account; avoid using predictable information that someone could easily find, or the infamous “123 password.” Implementing two-factor authentication adds a layer of security, and changing passwords regularly is a must. Investing in a password manager may be well worth the cost to help ensure that your information won’t be compromised because you didn’t have strong passwords or change them regularly.
If you think you have shared information with a scammer, act quickly by notifying your bank and credit card companies, and alerting local law enforcement and the FTC. Many scammers are in foreign countries, and once funds leave the United States, the chances of recovering them are slim.
Karen Sheek of Cortez is the chair of the Montezuma County League of Women Voters. She served two terms on Cortez City Council and two terms as mayor. Contact the local league at lwvmzc@gmail.com and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3YgpBZt.
