Welcome to our tenth video. I’m David Marquis, and this is The Activist Heart.
I want to focus today on a big document: the Constitution of United States of America.
This is it. Really. This little pamphlet. This copy was given to me on my birthday by my good friend Jim Keton. What a wonderful gift – the Constitution!
It’s not long, but it’s big. When was the last time you read the Constitution, the last time you studied it? High school civics? College?
You think maybe we could all turn off those cat videos for a day and spend some time with this amazing document? Let’s look at the amendments.
Remember that, as the name implies, the amendments came after the basic structure of the government had been established – the three branches. Legislative. Judicial. Executive. And there is an interesting political history here – that the amendments were a bargaining chip between the powerful and those who sought to guarantee power for individuals and small states.
But you can read about that elsewhere.
I want to talk about The First Amendment. Freedom of religion, the press, the right to petition the government. And then, here they are. The right peaceably to assemble and freedom of speech. In other words, to show up and speak up.
Show up and speak up.
The framers knew how important those were! It’s the First Amendment!
Today, technology provides many ways to show up and speak up, and they are extremely useful. But I can tell you from experience that there is nothing like being in the presence of people who share your values and your passion.
Today people are showing up to march, to attend rallies, to speak up at Town Hall meetings. That’s great. That brings this big little document to life.
Show up and speak up! That is the lightning bolt of democracy! It puts a charge into the very air we breathe as activists.
This week, show up at a meeting or a gathering, and not just at a rally or march. At an organizational meeting! And keep going. And speak up! It is your right. It is your responsibility.
Now, go read this document – the Constitution of the United States of America.
Show up! Speak up! Because I assure you, silence and absence never changed a thing!
We’ll be back.
