Taking the First Amendment for granted no longer

As the gray-haired man entered the Vanderbilt commons and approached the table, you could hear the murmurs from staff and scholars. He sat and began chatting with those around him, and the sense was that here was a very important person.

When I returned to the Diversity Institute room we are beginning to consider home, I saw the man walk in. He was our next speaker. He was First Amendment Center founder John Seigenthaler, a man whose name I had seen in the hallway leading to the Diversity Institute’s library Thursday night. He worked with Robert F. Kennedy and counted him and his brother, John F. Kennedy, as friends during the 1960s.
Seigenthaler spoke to us about the First Amendment and immediately said something that made me appreciate where I was, both in life and in journalism. He told us to “never take the First Amendment for granted.”

It resonated with me and made me think about the ways in which I had taken it for granted.

As a journalist, there is an unspoken respect for the First Amendment. Because of this amendment, many wrongs have been righted. Because of this amendment, those who think they cannot speak find their voice in newspapers. Because of this amendment, I can pursue, even as a Hispanic, a career in such a noble field.

As for seeing Seigenthaler’s name in the hallway, there is a steel pipe inside a glass case, about one foot long and having the diameter of a quarter. A note says that Bobby Kennedy gave him the pipe as a gift. It was the pipe that had knocked Seigenthaler unconscious while protecting a Freedom Rider during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

Because of knowing how much he sacrificed, I can say that I feel I have done nothing to show my appreciation for the First Amendment. I had taken it for granted. No longer. I will pass along what I have learned and I will always appreciate the opportunities I have been given.