The Five Freedoms - Being American

While walking through Chicago on Saturday afternoon, I heard a large crowd, chanting in unison through the streets. I turned the corner on Jackson Blvd and saw several flags of Palestine being waved in the air. It was a protest parade in support of Palestine.

I haven’t done any research or know much about this conflict in general, so I won’t say much about it other than this: Genocide Is Bad.

I found this event significant, not because of the topic, but because it gave me one final taste of what it’s like to be an American citizen. The First Amendment in the US Constitution is, in my opinion, the most important piece of text that is fundamental to the functioning democracy of the USA.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Speech, press, religion, assembly, petition. These five things allow us to live our lives without fear of an oppressive and tyrannical government. Seeing the act of assembly today and watching drag queen performances last night gave me a sense of gratitude. We can express our thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes, gender expressions, disdains or infatuations for political figures, and our true selves, all because we are American.

While walking away from the assembly to the L station, a tear welled in my eye just thinking about this.

While Western European countries certainly don’t have tyrannical governments, I am unsure if they have these same guaranteed protections that the First Amendment gives us. Hopefully I can chat with someone about freedom of different expressions and see how Europeans think.

-Gannon