George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police launched a movement that transformed many aspects of American life. Unparalleled in scope, the movement drew strength from the First Amendment’s protections for free speech, free assembly and a free press.

But it also faced a backlash that showed how fragile these First Amendment rights can seem. Arrests and assaults of journalists and protesters soared and state legislatures took up a wave of anti-protest measures. For those exercising their bedrock constitutional rights in this historic moment, the First Amendment could seem tenuous, theoretical.

Is it?

Protest & Pushback explores what the movement for Black lives shows us about the power and peril of exercising our First Amendment rights.

For more information about the project, including additional content and a transcript of the audio, visit https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/protest-pushback.

Protest & Pushback full-length feature

Protest & PushbackBy First Amendment CoalitionDec 06, 2021