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'I'm prepared to go to jail': John Lewis slams Trump's border policies.

Long before he was a congressman representing Georgia, John Lewis was arrested ... for going to the bathroom.

Well, the wrong bathroom.

In 2016, Lewis tweeted his vintage mug shot with the caption, "I was arrested in the Jackson, MS bus station for using a 'whites-only' restroom," and the hashtag #GoodTrouble.

Nearly six decades later, Lewis is still getting into "good trouble." And he wants the rest of us to do the same.

In a fiery speech on June 20, the congressman blasted President Donald Trump's extreme and unpopular family separation policy.

"I saw those signs that said, 'white men,' 'colored men,'" Lewis recalled of his childhood growing up in the rural south. "But I was inspired by Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., and I got in the way. I got in trouble. Good trouble, necessary trouble."

Just because it was the law didn't make it right.

"This has gone on too long, and it must stop, and it must stop now — not tomorrow, but now!" Lewis said, segueing from the civil rights era of the 1960s to our current humanitarian crisis.

"Just tell me whatever you want me to do," Lewis continued, with a nod to Rep. Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois standing nearby. "I will go to the borders. I'd get arrested again."

"You know, if necessary, I'm prepared to go to jail,"Lewis said, embracing a child with his right arm. "Thank you, brother."

A march protests family separations on June 13. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

What's right is not always lawful, and the law is not always right. Many of humanity's darkest moments — slavery, the Holocaust, Japanese-American interment camps, and more — were protected by the rule of law.  

It's up to us to change what's acceptable.

Shortly after the Democrats' press conference, Trump signed an executive order reversing the family separation policy his administration first enforced.

But the story is far from over.

Trump's order did nothing to clarify how the thousands of separated migrant children will be reunited with their parents, and many advocates argue the reversal still leaves families in the deplorable conditions we decided were too harsh for children.

The good news is that there are many ways to keep fighting for these children and their families — and maybe even get into some good trouble along the way.

You can support legal aid groups specialized in immigration law doing on-the-ground work protecting migrants this very moment. Buy apparel that benefits youth-led immigrant advocacy work. Keep sharing stories with loved ones as this story develops in the weeks and months ahead. Volunteer and get involved however you can.  

As Lewis concluded his speech outside the Capitol: "Now is the time to do what is right, what is fair, and what is just."

Let's get into good trouble together.

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Chewy
Chewy
Pets

Chewy Claus is fulfilling thousands of pet wishes this season. Have you written your letter yet?

Every letter submitted donates a pound of food to pets in need.

via Chewy

Adorable Dexter and his new chew toy. Thanks Chewy Claus.

True

Every holiday season, millions of kids send letters asking for everything from a new bike to a pony. Some even make altruistic requests such as peace on Earth or helping struggling families around the holidays.

But wouldn’t the holiday season be even more magical if our pets had their wishes granted, too? That’s why Chewy Claus is stepping up to spread holiday cheer to America’s pets.

Does your dog dream of a month’s supply of treats or chew toys? Would your cat love a new tree complete with a stylish condo? How about giving your betta fish some fresh decor that’ll really tie its tank together?

Or do your pets need something more than mere creature comforts such as life-saving surgery?

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Teen raises $186,000 to help 81-year-old Walmart worker pay off her mortgage and retire

'Life shouldn't be this hard.'

Photo by Jeremy Wong on Unsplash

Teen raises $186,000 to help Walmart worker retire.

In America, many people have to work well past the age of retirement to make ends meet. While some of these people choose to work past retirement age because it keeps them active, some older people, like Nola Carpenter, 81, work out of necessity.

Carpenter has been working at Walmart for 20 years, way beyond most people's retirement age just so that she can afford to continue to pay her mortgage. When 19-year-old Devan Bonagura saw the woman looking tired in the break room of the store, he posted a video to his TikTok of Carpenter with a text overlay that said, "Life shouldn't b this hard..." complete with a sad face emoji.

In the video, Carpenter is sitting at a small table looking down and appearing to be exhausted. The caption of the video reads ":/ I feel bad." Turns out, a lot of other people did too, and encouraged the teen to start a GoFundMe, which has since completed.

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Community

Philadelphia is taking the city back to the past by reinstalling pay phones

No quarters required!

Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash

Philadelphia is taking the city back to the past.

Remember when calling your parents, a tow truck or a friend when you were out and about meant digging in your pocket for a quarter to make a pay phone call? Well, a Philadelphia-based collective, PhilTel, is jumping into the past with a modern twist, by installing free-to-use pay phones throughout the city.

Of course, the pay phones that many of us grew up were removed from public places years ago. There no longer seemed to be a need for them when most people had a phone in their pocket or in their hand. But it's easy to forget that not everyone has or wants that luxury. For some people, staying that connected all the time can be too much and for others, it's simply financially impossible to own a cell phone.

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A wild goose was taken to an animal hospital. His mate knocked on the door to find him.

Cape Wildlife Center/Facebook

This article originally appeared on 07.22.21


As if a Canada goose named Arnold isn't endearing enough, his partner who came looking for him when he was injured is warming hearts and having us root for this sweet feathered couple.

Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, Massachusetts shared the story on its Facebook page, in what they called "a first" for their animal hospital.


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Think all cats are the same? These pictures prove they each have their own personality

Photographer Nils Jacobi shows how cats aren't nearly as aloof as one might think.

All images used with Nils Jacobi's permission. @furryfritz/Instagram

Catographer purrfectly captures cats' purrsonalities.

People often mistakingly attribute a singular personality to cats—usually the words "aloof" or "snobby" are used to describe them. At best, they might be given the "evil genius" label. But in actuality, no two cats are alike. Each has their own distinct ways of being, whether that’s silly, sophisticated, affectionate, downright diabolical or somewhere in between.

This photographer has the pictures to prove it.

Nils Jacobi, better known online as furryfritz, the catographer, has photographed literally thousands upon thousands of cats—from Maine coons who look like they should be in a perfume ad to tabbies in full-on derp mode.
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