The 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution: “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.”

Religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. Protecting our thoughts, our expression, our access to the news, our right to disagree. These came first.

You might appreciate reading Solnit’s take on what looks to some like an overnight change: “The death of George Floyd was a match that lit a bonfire, and how the fuel for the bonfire piled up is worth studying. That is, for a national and international uprising against anti-Black racism and police violence to achieve such scale and power, many must have been ready for it, whether they knew it or not. Not in the sense of planning it or expecting these events, but by having changed their minds and committed their hearts beforehand. . . . You can point to specifics about this moment . . . But none of these would have signified if the smallest thing hadn’t happened millions of times over: people changed their minds.”

I used to say to my students every time I introduced the persuasive essay, that the most impressive thing they could accomplish while researching and arguing their thesis was if they changed their minds about an issue.

It rarely happened, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, but it was a beautiful thing when it did.

•

•