RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
Peaceful Protest
The first amendment to the constitution
Our fundamental human rights
Is not just freedom of speech
Not just freedom of and from religion
The first amendment includes
The right to peaceful protest
The right to gather on the public square
To raise your collective voices
To challenge government authority
To express a dissenting view
To be free from police harassment
To be secure in your safety
To expect public servants to protect you
In the engagement of your rights
Is as fundamental to our republic
As the right to vote
A government that abhors protest
That suppresses public activism
That punishes those who march
That beats protestors with riot sticks
That demands passive obeyance
That regards protestors as mobs
That employs violent dispersal
Does not deserve the name
Of a republic
Let the students be
Let them engage their civil rights
Let them practice the art of politics
Let them demonstrate their involvement
As citizens of a democratic state
