“We the people.”
Those are the first three words of the preamble to the United States Constitution. They are among the most powerful words ever written about self-government. The Constitution begins with us.
Constitution Day, observed each Sept. 17, commemorates the day in 1787 when delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document they had spent months negotiating. It is a day to consider the remarkable system of representative government, divided powers, checks and balances, and individual liberties created by the Constitution.
But the Constitution was never meant to suggest that Americans would always agree. Democracy is not agreement. It is the process through which people with different experiences, convictions, and priorities learn to govern themselves without surrendering their rights or denying those rights to others.
The framers understood that the document they signed was not perfect. The Constitution itself anticipated change through the amendment process.
Two years after the Constitution was signed, Congress approved 12 proposed amendments on Sept. 25, 1789, and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten were ratified on Dec. 15, 1791, becoming the Bill of Rights.
The first of those amendments reads:
“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.”
In one sentence, the First Amendment protects five essential freedoms: religion, speech, the press, peaceful assembly and petition.
Those freedoms are not abstractions. We exercise them whenever we worship — or choose not to worship — according to our own beliefs. We exercise them when we express an opinion, publish a news story, draw an editorial cartoon, attend a public meeting, gather for a peaceful demonstration, or ask elected officials to address a problem.
They protect the speaker and the listener. They protect the person holding a sign and the person who walks past it. They protect journalists asking difficult questions and members of the public demanding answers. They protect popular ideas and unpopular ideas.
First Amendment Day is observed on September 25, the anniversary of Congress proposing the amendments that became the Bill of Rights.
Together, Constitution Day and First Amendment Day offer related lessons.
Constitution Day reminds us that democracy requires a structure through which people can coexist, deliberate and make decisions even when they disagree.
First Amendment Day reminds us that democracy requires participation. We have the right to speak, listen, question, publish, gather, and ask our government to correct its course.
Bringing the First Amendment to George Hix Plaza
This year, the Estes Valley Voice held its second Constitution Day observance and invited the community to step into a “free speech” zone at George Hix Plaza.
Yes, every day is a “free speech” zone in the United States, but we mark the significance of what this right means with public observances.
Despite some raindrops, about 30 people stopped by. Estes Park Mayor Gary Hall joined us again this year. Some people spoke. Others listened. Both acts mattered.
We heard from poet Robert Charles Howard, and watched juggler Mike Brown. Several speakers stepped onto the Estes Valley Voice “Free Speech” soapbox to give us a piece of their minds. Conversations touched on local government, workforce housing, immigration, and other issues that affect our community.
Two regular Estes Valley Voice contributors also took the soapbox. Editorial cartoonist Dick Mulhern spoke about the Constitution’s importance.
Journalist Elisabeth Sherwin criticized President Donald Trump’s treatment of journalists.
Not everyone who gathered agreed with every speaker. Agreement was never the point.
The point was to honor the public square where people could speak openly and listen respectfully. That is what the First Amendment makes possible. It does not promise freedom from criticism, disagreement, or discomfort. It protects the public’s ability to exchange ideas without government censorship or punishment.
A healthy democracy needs people willing to speak. It also needs people willing to listen.
An honor and a responsibility
For a newsroom, freedom of the press is both a constitutional protection and a public responsibility.
The Estes Valley Voice was deeply honored to receive the Colorado Press Association’s First Amendment Award last month at the organization’s annual conference.
We accept that recognition with gratitude, but also with a clear understanding of what it requires of us.
A free press must ask questions, examine public records, attend government meetings, verify information, and report what those in power would sometimes prefer not to discuss.
It must also correct mistakes, distinguish news from opinion, and give people a fair opportunity to respond.
Freedom of the press does not place journalists above the public. It allows journalists to work on the public’s behalf.
That work is especially important at the local level.
In our first two years, we have worked hard to hold public institutions to accountability and transparency.
Decisions made by the Town Board, our special districts, school board, and other public bodies — both elected and appointed — affect our taxes, schools, utilities, public safety, health care, and quality of life. Residents cannot participate meaningfully in local government unless they know what their government is doing.
That is why open meetings, public records, independent journalism, and an engaged community matter.
The First Amendment belongs to everyone
The First Amendment is not reserved for professional journalists, elected officials, lawyers, or constitutional scholars. It belongs to everyone.
It belongs to the person who writes a letter to the editor and the resident who speaks during public comment. It belongs to the faith community gathering for worship, the citizens carrying signs on the sidewalk along Bond Park, and the neighbors petitioning their government for change.
It belongs to people across the political spectrum. Its protections cannot depend on whether we approve of the person speaking or agree with what that person says.
The freedoms protected by the First Amendment have endured because generations of Americans have exercised and defended them. They will continue only if we do the same.
“We the people” is more than an opening phrase. It is a continuing assignment.
The Constitution established the framework. The First Amendment gave the people essential tools for participating in that system. It is up to us to use those tools responsibly, defend them consistently, and preserve them for those who come after us.
That is how we continue the unfinished work of forming “a more perfect union.”
Historical information about the Constitution and Bill of Rights is available from the National Archives. Information about First Amendment Day is available from the National Constitution Center
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