Taris Young

Jomc 393

2/26/19

The First Amendment

The First Amendment is the United States Constitution that prevents the

government from making laws which respects an establishment of religion, prohibits the free

exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of press, or the right to

petition the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as on

the ten amendments that constitute the bill of rights. The meaning of the first amendment has

been the subject of continuing interpretation and dispute over the years. The Black Lives Matter

movement exercises the First amendment in which is the freedom of speech to speak out on

social injustice and racial injustice. Black Lives Matter Global network is a chapter-based

member-led organization whose mission is to build local power and to intervene in violence on

black communities by the state and vigilantes. Black Lives Matter is an international activist

movement, originating in the African American community, that campaigns against violence

and systematic racism towards black people. Born as a twitter hashtag, black lives matter has

evolved into a potent alternative to the political paralysis and isolation that racial injustice

proponents have faced since the election of president Obama. In just over two years, the young

movement has reinvigorated confronting politics, giving voice to a popular and righteous rage,

establishing a new touchstone of grassroots resistance. Black live matters began quite

modestly as #BlackLivesMatter. The hashtag was created in 2013 by Patrice Cullors, Alica Garza,

and Opal Tometi. Calfironia and New York based organizers active in incarceration, immigration,
and domestic labor campaigns. After the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of 17-

year-old Trayvon Martin. The slogans' deeper significance as the rallying cry for an incipient

movement crystallized in 2014 during the Ferguson, Missouri uprising against police brutality.

The hashtags leapt from social media to the streets “Black Lives Matter which Garza called a

“love note” to black communities, now serves as a shorthand for diverse organizing efforts both

sporadic and sustained crossed the country” (Rickford, December 2015). The most

recognizable expression of widespread black outrage against the police aggression and racist

violence, the phrase has engendered a spirited and decentralized movement. Black Lives

Matter is youthful, though it has reenergized older activists who are eager to connect with a

new generation of organizers. It arises from an organic black protest tradition, while drawing

impassioned participants of all colors. Founded by black women, the movement has galvanized

an array of grassroots activists in multiple communities. After Micheal Brown's death protesters

came with a message, a message that would echo through the Missouri night sky in the days

and weeks after his death. Protests broke out the day after Brown’s shooting. Cars were

vandalized, commercial properties were broken into. Watching the drama unfold on TV Garza

had that sick feeling when She heard of Trayvon’s Martin death. Along with Cullors, and Tometi

she organized a “freedom ride” to Ferguson under the #blacklivesmatter camp. When Garza got

to Ferguson she was astonished to see her own phrasing mirrored back at her on protest

banners and shouted by people she never met. When the grand jury announced the officer

would not face any indictment in Mike Brown's death, a group of protestors chanting “Black

lives matter” shut down a local shopping mall. Later after a few black unarmed deaths the

phrase started appearing on T-shirts, mugs and badges. In January 2015 it was voted the word
of the year. It was the message heard across the nation in protest for other black Americans

who have died in police hands.``Black Lives Matter,” they chanted, wrote and tweeted. They

chanted in throngs that blocked the streets and demanded America's attention. Protestors also

marched the streets with their hands up and chanting “Black Lives Matter'' or the sign would

say “Don’t shoot”. “While demonstrators took to the streets of Ferguson and cities like New

York and Los Angeles, a new generation of activists gathered both on the ground and online”

(Luibrand, August 2014). . In June 2015, following the shooting of nine people by a white

supremacist in a church in Charleston activist Bree Newsome climbed the flagpole and removed

the confederate flag. Her action was tweeted and retweeted under the hashtag

#Blacklivesmatter The Black Lives Matter Movement called for change with how police deal

with minorities and demanded a look at systematic racism and equity. Eric Garner's death

sparked national outrage and fueled the early flames of the Black Lives Matter movement as he

was seen on camera being choked by an New York police officer, He was telling the officer “I

Can’t Breathe.” Protestors took the streets and nationwide and wore on their shirts “I can’t

breathe” It got so large that NBA players such as Lebron James were using their freedom of

speech and wore all black shirts that either said “Black Lives Matter'' or It would say “I can’t

breathe.” Black Lives Matter movement is also protected by the First Amendment by the

freedom of assembly. Freedom of assembly is the individual right or ability of people to come

together and collectively press, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ideas.

An example is when protestors gathered in downtown Cleveland to protest after a grand jury

failed to indict the officer who was accused of killing an unarmed black boy by the name of

Tamir Rice. More than 100 activists were at the rally in downtown Cleveland. They moved
around downtown, blocking a succession of intersections, which protest leaders said mimicked

the 4 minutes Tamir lay on the ground without getting medical attention. Protestors also had

marches in five other cities in support of Tamir’s family. Another example of Freedom to

protest is in the NFL when Collin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem against

social injustice and the movement with black lives matter. In 2016 Collin Kaepernick took a knee

during the national anthem during the NFL season. He did it to protest police shootings of

African American men and other social injustice faced by black people in the United States. “At

first, Kaepernick sat during the national anthem. Later he opted to kneel to show respect for

the men and women who were fighting for this country” (Vera, September 2018). Kaepernick’s

protest inspired other players to also protest the NFL. When the 2017 seasons had rolled

around a lot more players joined the protest against the NFL. Kaepernick's protest had a ripple

effect across the sports world that came to be called the “Kaepernick effect. In 2016, US soccer

international and Seattle Reign midfielder Meagan Rapinoe kneels during the national anthem

to show solidarity with Kapernick. Also Kaepernick exercised his first amendment right with the

Nike ad campaign that stated “Believe in something, even if it means scarfing everything.”

Another case in which freedom of speech is protected by the first amendment when Trayvon

Martin’s death impacted the across the country and people wore hoodies and hashtag on

twitter #JusticeForTrayvon also Barack said at a press conference “Trayvon could have been me

35 years ago.” This protects the right to protest when people are protesting and having a skittle

and having an Arizona in their hands, along with having hoods on their hand or chanting the

chant. Alton Sterling’s death was also a sparked movement for the black live matters movement

to exercise their rights to protest and freedom of speech. Residents protest on and off
throughout the day and night as the chanted “Hands up don’t shoot and black lives matter.”

(Solis July,2016). Demonstrators blocked the intersection near the convenience store before 10

pm. Their constitutional right was protected by the first amendment to protest and chant the

streets of Baton Rouge after the death of an unarmed black man. Celebrities also exercised

their first amendment rights with the death of Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, and social injustice

at the2016 Espys. Lebron James, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony used their

freedom of speech in an opening monologue at the espys. They called out other athletes to use

their fame to heal a country divided by racism, social injustice, and gun violence. Another case

where the first amendment protects the freedom of press is when the death of 25 -year -old

Freddie Gray who fell into a coma while in police care and later died of spinal injuries. and the

news was there to cover the protest against the Baltimore cops. At 9:30 he went with

organizers to help get people off the streets in time for the curfew. They asked some police to

drop their riot gear and hold hands in prayer. Then Kwame Rose stumbled across a TV for fox

news. They were there to film a senator among the crowd. Kwame Rose then told them “You’re

not here for the death of Freddie Gray, you’re not here reporting about the boarded up homes

and homeless people, you’re not reporting about the poverty levels up and down North

Avenue, you’re not here reporting about the black riots” (Day July,2015). Kwame Rose had a

constitutional right that is protected by the first amendment which is the freedom of speech.

The clip was shared on social media and Rose became a public figure overnight because of this

result he lost his job because of the attention. There are now 26 Black lives matter chapters

across the United States. Garza who used her freedom of speech on twitter started a

movement across the nation. Black lives matter is used as a slogan and hashtag to exercise
social injustice against African Americans and it’s in their right of their freedom of speech to

exercise theirs and if they want to riot and protest it’s well in their constitutional right to do so.

Black America is in a state of protest. The 21st-century civil rights movement, exemplified by the

action taken by Garza and those like her, is democratic in its aims and agile in its responses. It is

filled by grief and fury, by righteous rage against social injustice and initialized racism and by

frustration. Black live matters movement brought out so many freedoms of speeches and the

freedom to assemble all by the widespread of one tweet on twitter that’s now a global and

nationwide movement across the United States.

 Sources

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-the-black-lives-matter-movement-changed-america-

one-year-later/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1095796015620171

https://www.newsweek.com/eric-garner-death-nypd-trial-opportunistic-says-black-lives-

matter-leader-1027741

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/12/30/tamir-rice-cleveland-

protest/78100024/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/04/us/colin-kaepernick-controversy-q-and-a/index.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/07/05/baton-rouge-alton-sterling-police-

shooting/86738368/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/19/blacklivesmatter-birth-civil-rights-movement