What does democracy mean to me?

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We asked Kazon Allen, a broadcast journalism student at Florida A&M University, and is a member of the Fulcrum Fellowship cohort, to share his thoughts on what democracy means to him and his perspective on its current health.

Democracy means to me, living in a country where every citizen has five freedoms that are protected by the First Amendment: freedom of speech, religion, the press, assembly, and petition.

These rights give people the ability to express themselves, challenge the government, and advocate for change without having to fear punishment from the government. If people in America are afraid to speak, practice their beliefs, come together, or even question authority … is there even democracy in America?

Whoever wins an election does not define democracy but whether every person, regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, beliefs, or backgrounds, have their constitutional rights protected.

Freedom of speech is an essential right to a country that holds democracy at great value. With this right, citizens are allowed to express their opinions, criticize the government, and conversate about controversial issues without censorship. While speech is not ultimately unlimited, Americans do have protections to voice their ideas.

Today, there seems to be an attack on speech. Queer topic conversations in Florida schools are banned due to the "Don't Say Gay" law. Restrictions on conversations that regard Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is also a problem. These issues have sparked debates regarding where the line between education policy and freedom of expression is drawn.

Higher education has also become a battleground where speech is slowly increasing restrictions. Professor Tamar Shirinian sued the University of Tennessee after being dismissed for their social media posts on Charlie Kirk following his assassination. Around the same time, a federal judge ordered Texas State University to reinstate Professor Idris Robinson after he was terminated for participating in an event discussion about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Whether people agree on the professor's stance is not the point, the point is upholding democracy by protecting freedom of speech. If popular opinions are only protected and expressed, freedom of speech loses its meaning.

Freedom of religion is another pillar of democracy, allowing citizens their individual right to practice their faith or choose no religion at all without interference from authority. Democracy exists for everyone to have the freedom to believe differently, not forced to believe in the same thing.

The liberty of religion has been challenged by prejudice violence. One example of this is the attack of three worshippers at a mosque in San Diego. A massacre of islamophobia that targeted and killed 3 innocent people because of their faith. Protecting religious freedom means standing against hatred pointed at any religion, whether it is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, or any other belief.

The freedoms of assembly and petition work together because they allow citizens to advocate for change. Either by coming together as a unit or producing petitions to create change.

Looking through American history, numerous times people gathered together to create marches, rallies, and petitions to cause a change against injustice. One example of this is the Civil Rights Movement that included peaceful protests that advocated against racial injustice to create change within legislation.

These exercises remain the same as the movements against police brutality and immigration enforcement has been an ongoing issue these past few years. Many of these protests have been peaceful yet violence from federal officers remains continuous. From rubber pellets being shot at protesters to other escalating actions, peaceful assemblies are not remaining peaceful because of enforcement. The right to peacefully gather should never depend on whether those in power agree with the message.

The last but not least freedom of press is essential as it helps journalists serve as watchdogs over the government. The press is often named as the fourth branch of government because of that reason.

Today, concerns about press freedom have grown. An example of this is shown by the Trump administration restricting access to some events and spaces from the press like the pentagon. Attack on journalists is also a problem, the arrest of Don Lemon shows this as Lemon was arrested for trying to cover an anti-immigration protest. When reporters cannot freely document what is happening, the public loses transparency of the society around them.

Democracy depends on an informed public, to have an informed public you need the freedom of the press.

The strength of democracy is not a perfect government and having patriotism. Democracy is stronger when everyone can exercise their constitutional rights. As long as there is an attack on the five freedoms then democracy will not remain.