John Lewis: Good Trouble’s Erika Alexander shares why ‘good trouble’ is good for all

Erika Alexander spoke to FanSided about co-producing John Lewis: Good Trouble.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and from all backgrounds and walks of life. And for America’s modern history, John Lewis has strongly shown he’s one of those heroes: a celebrated Civil Rights Movement leader and congressional legislator who’s dedicated many years of his life to helping his country.

And that life legacy is shown in the feature documentary film John Lewis: Good Trouble. You can read our review of the documentary, which was released on July 3 on video on demand. But in short, it’s an insightful film and look into his life, enhanced only by the parallels of the ongoing fight demonstrated by those in the Black Lives Matter movement and others who are fighting for their rights.

Co-producing the documentary alongside director Dawn Porter, Laura Michalchyshyn and Ben Arnon is Erika Alexander, who spoke to FanSided about her love for Lewis and getting involved in the documentary. If there was ever someone who could be described as one of Lewis’ No. 1 fans, it would certainly be Alexander, who showed so much enthusiasm for Lewis, his legacy, and those just like him. Read on after the trailer for the full interview.

Interview with Erika Alexander, co-producer of John Lewis: Good Trouble

FanSided: Tell me about the background of this project and how you came to be involved.

Erika Alexander: Well, I’m a surrogate and I was a surrogate for Hillary Clinton… during 2007 and ’08 and also in 2016. And I promote travel surrogates. So that means I got to meet everybody. We had a lot of professional relationships with some of, I should say, the African-American giants. And one of them is Congressman John Lewis. I campaigned in Georgia with Congressman John Lewis and Stacey Abrams and Ayanna Pressley in 2016. And that is a huge privilege to go around with that team.

John Lewis was — is — our iconic hero during that time. I had no idea Stacey Abrams and Ayanna Pressley would turn out to be who they were. I knew that they were going to be impressive and everybody kept talking about these two young women. But they were sitting there with me saying, “pinch myself,” [and] saying “this is amazing.” So it turns out that in the real world, I would have access to the congressman through his constituent services representative, who’s my friend. And another friend introduced me and my partner, Ben Arnon, to Dawn Porter and her producing partner, Laura Michalchyshyn. So the truth is, destiny brought me to him. And it turned out when they were doing a John Lewis documentary, we decided to partner together and make one. And that’s how we came together.

Awesome! And I know this might be a hard question to answer, but what do you find is the most inspirational part of the congressman’s life?

I always say that I’m inspired by the fact that I see myself in him. We have the same background. Everyone talks about sharecropping as if it’s “back in the day.” But he was a sharecropper, and Elijah Cummings talks about it. It was amazing to see that these young men came from, basically, a plantation sort of existence. And a third-class citizenship; they become these powerful congresspeople.

And I was plucked from a theater in Philadelphia off of an open call in ’84 to do a role in an independent film. And that’s my career to be talking to you in this day. So I’m inspired by the effects of the Boy from Troy. That was a lot like “the Girl from Arizona,” who I was and still am today. And I think that Black people and African Americans have always been plucked out of obscurity. And no one knew what their possibilities or their aspirations were, but they exceeded their so-called “planned destiny” with the one that they intended.

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What would you say is the message of this film?

Good trouble! That when he’s like, when you see something that’s not right, not fair, not just, you got to say something. You got to do something to speak up and get into trouble and call that “good trouble.” And I think nowadays, looking for permission to say things in their workplace and say, “I see there’s not enough people of color working here in positions of real power,” — we need to get into good trouble, all of us, and see the disparity around us and speak up. Even if it’s to the detriment of our career, and the stakes are on the line. It doesn’t matter with those stakes on the line, but if it matters, if we can change your position, then you know you need to say something. So I love that. Get into good trouble.

What was it like getting to meet Congressman Lewis?

Oh, he’s wonderful. He’s a gentleman. That’s old school O.G., baby! You know, they wrote songs about people like John Lewis. You listen to Marvin Gaye, you know, you hear the smooth creaminess. And I say creamy because John Lewis is– I can imagine him as a young man with his suit and his tie saying, “May I hold your purse?” You know what I mean? That’s what I love.

And I think it’s beautiful to have those examples because right now we’ve been sold a new look of what a Black man and Black female relationship could look like. It’s like: “Back that booty up! Back that booty up!” You know? And it really scares people. They think they can’t have relationships of significance. He reminds us of who we are involved with. Malcolm X, all those brothers. Creamy and delicious! So that’s what I love.

I heard that! Lastly, how do you see his legacy continuing in this new generation?

I see it continuing in you. I say that very seriously. “Message” is everything. And in a world where everyone’s clamoring to have a brand or maybe are one when really, they’re just personalities. And they really have no real platform to make change. The change that they can make is within themselves and how they present themselves. How these stories are told, then that’s how things do change.

And the collective sort of inhale and exhale of examining ourselves eventually gets to media markets and writers like you to help us discern and figure out what it is we just saw. So I say that the writers have it. The journalists have it. The media have it. And up until now, I think you’ve been ill-served, frankly. And I think that’s why all those people get turned off. Because people stopped asking the right questions; they stopped holding them accountable. They let them say anything they want — and with privilege — for free. And enough’s enough, so I believe that the future lies within our best angels, and that’s inside of news and information!

John Lewis: Good Trouble is out on video on demand now. For more, follow the Interviews category on FanSided Entertainment.