Joseph and Joyce Ellwanger, 92 and 88, keep protesting in Trump’s America

Joseph and Joyce Ellwanger have lost count of how many times they’ve been arrested. But at 92 and 88 years old, the veteran civil rights activists are still on the front lines, this time protesting what they see as dangerous overreach by Donald Trump during his second term as US president.

“Inaction and silence do not bring about change,” said Joseph, standing with a walker at a rally near Milwaukee in late April.

The demonstration, attended by several hundred people, was in support of Judge Hannah Dugan, who was recently arrested by the FBI. Dugan is accused of helping an undocumented immigrant avoid federal authorities' charges, her supporters say, and this is politically driven.

As always, Joyce stood beside her husband, holding a sign that read “Hands Off Hannah.” The couple say they’ve seen moments like this before, and know from experience that persistence matters. “The struggle for justice has always had so much pushback and difficulty that it almost always appeared as though we’d never win,” Joseph said. “But change does happen.”

The Ellwangers have been on the front lines of social justice for over six decades. In the 1960s, Joseph, a Lutheran pastor, became the only white clergyman to join Martin Luther King Jr.’s inner circle. He led an all-Black church in Alabama at the time and walked alongside King in the historic Selma to Montgomery march of 1965.

Joyce has also put her beliefs into action. In the 1980s, she spent 50 days in jail for protesting U.S. military support for El Salvador. Over the years, she and Joseph have rallied against the Iraq War, the expansion of prisons, and harsh immigration laws. “You do what you have to do,” Joyce said. “You don’t let them stop you just because they put up a blockade. You go around it.”

Now, with Trump back in office and issuing sweeping executive orders targeting immigrants and student demonstrators, the Ellwangers say they feel a renewed urgency. “His actions have kept us active,” Joseph said, noting they only unplug once a week, for a Sunday evening Zoom call with their three grown children.

And the fight isn’t over. The Ellwangers are already planning their next action: joining the June 14 national “No Kings” rally, aimed at resisting Trump’s expanding presidential powers.

“More people are taking to the streets,” Joyce said. “We will also be in the streets.”