In that setting, Mrs. Chiles taught us World History and told us that one of the things that made the United States a great country to live in was freedom of speech. She talked about countries like Russia and China, where people could be arrested and imprisoned simply for speaking their minds. One day she said something that has stayed with me all these years: “The stronger the leaders, the more free speech will be found. Only leaders who are weak will shut down the right of people to speak out.”
I was thirteen at the time. It is hard to believe that fifty-seven years later, our current leadership treats free speech as if it were a crime. Journalists, activists, political pundits, historians, and everyday people are threatened, ridiculed, and investigated in an effort to silence them.
I live in Minnesota now, but as the headlines grow heavier, I realize how deeply those early lessons about democracy and free speech still shape how I see what is happening around us.
Last week a friend reached out to me and wrote, “I did want to warn you … the majority of people in our county are MAGA, so you may want to tread lightly.” This came after we had connected on Facebook and moved beyond occasional group get-togethers. Anyone new to my private Facebook page could quickly figure out that I am a liberal. According to forty-seven, that apparently makes me “scum” or Antifa. I am just grateful Antifa does not require dues or ask for five dollars today to support the cause, or I would be broke.
She began her message by assuring me that she is not MAGA and has never voted for forty-seven. I appreciated both the honesty and the warning. I told her I already suspected it was a red county and that I had done my homework. So far, I have not had any direct political confrontations in the communities where we shop or dine out.
I have met conservatives who voted for forty-seven, and I have also heard concerns from some of those same people about threats toward Greenland, the way ICE is operating, and reports of Venezuelans being killed on boats accused of drug trafficking. Many Republicans I know who voted for forty-seven simply because they are multi-generational Republicans have grown noticeably quiet.
I am deeply proud of every single person showing up to protest in this region. Kudos to those buying groceries, taking children of immigrants to school, and standing up for immigrant families in real, tangible ways. When I see people on social media telling protesters to stop “getting in the way” of ICE, I cannot help but wonder what they are willing to tolerate if their advice is simply to comply with this regime.
Most of all, I am thankful for Martin Luther King, Jr. and for every person involved in the Civil Rights Movement. They are the ones who taught this country how to protest. They showed us that nonviolent resistance, public witness, and moral courage can move a nation. Yet the deep irony is that Black lives remain at risk in the very country they helped reshape, even as others now borrow their methods to defend freedom. Their courage, their willingness to pay the price, sometimes with their lives, and their eventual success continue to guide and strengthen today’s resistance to ICE and to the current political regime, at a time when people like Stephen Miller are pushing the United States toward white nationalism.
Thank you to everyone who refuses to be silenced.
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