Students who brought the lawsuit. Welcome to the special presentation celebrating the 50th anniversary of a important milestone in u. S. History and for First Amendment rights. We are joining you live from the auditorium of the state Historical Society in iowa and we are in des moines. With us today are more than 200 students from schools across this state, we are joined online by students in classrooms across the country. Say hello everybody. applause in december 1965 mary beth and john tinker along with their friend Chris Eckhart wore black bands to school to protest the war in vietnam they were sent home and suspended from school. The students were told they couldnt return to school until they agreed to end their protest. Through their parents, the Students School sued the School District for violating their right to free expression. Culminated in the Supreme Court decision 15 years ago on february 24th, 1960, nine the court ruled seven to two that students do not shed their Constitutional Rights of freedom of speech freedom of expression at the school has gait. The tanker decision remains a frequently quoted advocates of free speech we are fortunate to have them here today to share their story. After their presentation we will invite our audience to ask questions of mary beth and. John for those outside of this venue share your questions on twitter with the hashtag tinker verse surrey, or go online to ap tv dot torque slash tinker. Please join me in welcoming john and mary beth tinker. Thank you so much. Thank you so much to iowa and Public Television and cspan and to all of you in the audience and to all of you following along out there in the u. S. Online. We are so happy to be here with all of you. Right . John its such a honor and privilege to be with so many people celebrating first men mint rights. Especially those with students in schools. This is a very powerful moment for me especially to be participating in. This thank you for inviting me and i also wanted to Mention National history day which has done so much to promote student awareness of student activism. Yes and we will have a chance to meet some didnt history minute were meeting students taking the country to its ideals, equal justice under the law and equality for law and thats what you have done all through the ages, the history and now again, we are honored to be here with all of you to do that and to honor our family story. Our parents stood up for what is right or what they believe in and justice and for love, and they werent always so popular for doing this i will tell you the story of how this all happened. Should we get started . Lets get started. All right first of all we were kids growing up and of course we had wonderful qualities like all of you. We had creativity and talent and ideas and potentials but we needed our rights worker to unlock all of those potentials and what are those First Amendment rights again . Some would tell me. Freedom of speech freedom of the press freedom of religion freedom of a somberly and the very, last freedom of petition lets hear it for the last amendment. Oh they are so cute. This is up growing up in iowa. We didnt know our First Amendment rights back then. Did we john . Not too well at this age. Thats for sure. There is john on the left he so. Cute and leonard, thanks so much for coming. Leonard then we end the scale. Even then theres hope, hopes here, two things hope. And bonnie on the far side and our parents. Paul wasnt born yet but youre going to see paul later. Polls here too. Dont worry weve got you. Growing up, we had a foundation of speaking up for things, and we had so many great friends. And one of them was johns good friend and our family friend, the griffiths. Well ethnography who is a stanleys mother was a amazing woman and she was a really great front of our mothers and she had already won a iowa Supreme Court case speaking up against discrimination. So we are so happy today that we are going to have some students from iowa who did a National History day program about that. Please welcome Lauren Johnson and grace welcome up you to. All right. My name is grace, and this is laura johnson. Were students from decor high. Were here to talk about our experience with the National Date project. Choosing our topic we want to focus on activists in our history that truly made a difference that communities and iowa. And that is what we found and that griffin. She was a brave woman who fought for the equal rights for racists she took action for. Justice until a seventh, 1940, eight griffin was designed denied service at a drugstore on the grounds of her. Race she filed a lawsuit against cats and took her case all the way to the iowa Supreme Court where the court would rule in her favor. She helped establish laws that pitted illegal to deny Services Based on. Race we wrote a play to present our information. We have two other people who helped perform this play current could be able to be here with us. Today on our plate we focused on reenacting the conflict that at a cat drugstore and the civil trial. Our performance advanced to state contest. We want to. Awards the African American history award and the award. We were also happy enough to well into no we visited the griffin building her store she used the rights and the law of des moines to make the world a better place for everyone. Maybe thats by standing up for justice around us or something a simple as showing respect and acceptance. The play really helped us speak out about what we see rana so we dont agree with. Celebration dinner really highlighted ednas prophesy we chose the dinner to display the work that she accomplished. She stood up for the rights of others so why cant we . Changing society is a lifelong journey were all responsible. For help me welcome stanley griffin, edna griffins son. applause thank you very much. So honored to be here. Today i am pretty touched by that speech. Thats what mother really wanted. She wanted, kids she wanted to leave a legacy of whats, right human and civil rights. They were talking about accomplishments with the drugstore days but i want you to know who is my mother. Number one she was the number one mother in the world to myself. She definitely was my company as i played cello through school. Shes my accompany astound. That she was standing up for union rights and iowa. She got here in 1947 and she stood up for the meat packers workers to try to organize them in 1947. The work that i want you to know she did back then. She foreshadowed the modern Civil Rights Movement as you know. Today i look back and i say my mother was very bold. Shes a force in action and i think she wants to transfer that to all of your kids. Everybody can make a difference in terms of what happens. She helped with farm organizations i also grew up with farmers from the basket and she helped them organize a case against safely stores. And i just want to let you know she was more than just one thing. She was very complicated and brilliant. Graduated from high school at 14 years old and moved on from there and dedicated her life to civil and human rights. Gay rights i stand proud to represent the griffin faintly and one other think my dad, dr. Stanley griffin was the foundation of our family. Without him being a working for himself mother couldnt do what she did because we wouldve gotten fired and you know not have had any employment so stand up for what is right and always remember my mother. One less thing. If you want to learn more about mom right now go to edna griffin iowa. If you can cool that you are going to get what hits on her. Were writing a book right now so youre going to learn about it. We want to help kids like you and others excel. White, black, everybody do that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much stanley, and lauren, and grace for sharing that story about edna griffin who is such a impact on our. Lives edna griffin was one of those great examples to. Us around the time that all of this was going on and that we were growing up, there is edna and stanley. There were other things going on in the country that were making us very said that other people were standing up and speaking about and one of those things were going on in birmingham, alabama. Here are some students that were there. Again taking us towards our ideals and dealing with the issue of Racial Injustice which our case is so grounded and because this was the example that we were following. These kids were in birmingham, and there were about 2000 kids that year that marched and sang songs like this little light of mine i going to let it shine. They were marching and singing for justice. And what happened john . Some people werent too happy about that. No. This is the clue clocks clean and they werent interested in racial justice. They were interested in whites only. And the movement had to raise up to oppose. That if there hadnt been a movement of people to oppose that that would still be the world we would live in today. We are very happy with that. The end people stood up and opposed and many adults as well. We were part of all of that speaking up while the clue clicks planned to punish the little Children First speaking up for democracy and justice they had a plan and they planted a bomb in the church right on sunday morning. The headquarters of the kids was the 16th Street Baptist Church they put a bump on the trip to september 15th, 1953, i was ten years old john was 12. These four little girls, their bodies were found in the church. Cindy, may carroll, and denise. We were said about that like today whats driving a lot of young people to stand up and speak up. Its partly sadness. Its grief. Its feelings that the world isnt what it could be and we could do better. In des moines, edna griffin had started a group called the congress of nation equality. So people around the country had services to mourn for the little girls and we had one here in des moines. We finally see our little brother there. There he is. Right there. Stanley mentioned that our families grew up together. Thats true. Here you see our brother paul. This is the list griffin, linda griffin. Tinker. And our departed bonnie. Our sweet sister bonnie who died in a bicycle accident. I should have given you credit their photojournalist. So that was the first time that we had a chance to wear black arm bands or experienced wearing black arm bands for being said its a symbol that goes way back in history and it shows that you are. Said there is fearless, and lynda, and all of these girls were black arm bands that date to how said we were about the Birmingham Children being killed and that we could do something about it. This Memorial Service took place right at the capitol at the plaza at the capitol. Were about two blocks from their here in des moines. Next year is also a amazing year for young people speak up and standing up this time it was in mississippi for mississippi freedom summer. That summer only before 5 of African Americans were registered to vote in mississippi and much of the south because of the tear of the ku klux klan klan. That young people spoke up as they do to speak up for a quality justice and democracy and it is called freedom of summer, 1960. For our parents went down south to participate in that and also our older brother leonard. Thats right our father was a methodist minister and leader become involved with the quickers so they said dont wait till heaven to put your values into action just do it while youre down on earth. Lets take action to speak up for love and all of those things preached and all religions. So these people were doing that putting love into action and also speaking up and using their First Amendment rights. When they got their three of them immediately disappeared. Jeremy, sean, are and andrew goodman. Everyone suspected that the clue clucks klan had them but they kept searching and searching for them. And on august 4th, the fbi found the bodies of it was a very very sad time that summer. And on the very same day, Something Else very said happened that was going to change so many lives in the United States forever. Off the gulf of tonkin, of the coast of vietnam, a u. S. Navy ship claimed it had been attacked and it turned out it hadnt been attacked, but it didnt stop the u. S. Congress and voting almost unanimously to send thousands of troops to vietnam. Thats really when it got started. It was already going on, the war in secret, by lyndon johnson. But august 4th all this was going on in these mighty times that are so much like our times that you are living in today. Students in municipal didnt think that was right. They spoke up and they use their First Amendment rights and they were this button to school that said one man one vote student coordinating committee. They were suspended for to me that it was a black segregated school and there was a spend and a court case third working its way through the courts. We had no idea that that case was going to influence all of our lives and all of the lives of all of you students who are watching this today, because this is the case that established the substantial disruption standards in schools. You can have free speech you cannot substantially disrupt. School because these kids in mississippi eventually won their case and the courts said that they should have had the right to wear those buttons and use their First Amendment rights because they didnt substantially disrupt school and thats where that stated comes from. But there were also said things continuing. Now on the news. What do you see here john . This is a picture from the war in vietnam. During the war in vietnam we were confronted with pictures like this on our Television Sets every night. And there were pictures of people that had been in palm. Pictures of villages burned down. What was nepa by the way . Can you tell . Napalm is guess lean with things added to it to make it like a jelly. So when the bomb blows up and the jelly gasoline sprays at it sticks to your skin and it burns out. Its just everything. It runs up your homes. Burns up the people burns up the babies in the mothers as well. We sat every night. We sat in black and white but this happened and we watched it over and over again and we didnt know what to do about it. It was a large merge in washington. I went on the large merge to washington and then on the way back we discussed what we could do to continue to protest the war. The man on the bus said he heard that people were going to wear black mat arm bands to protests. Were the black armband is a old traditional symbol of protest and family members have died and what indicate to decided that they are in a period of mourning so we decided to wear black arm bands to express our morning for the deaths on both sides of the conflict in vietnam, and also we were trying to encourage adoption of Robert Kennedys call for it Christmas Truce that year in 1965. When the School System fanned at that we were going to wear black arm bands the principles got together and banned the wearing of black arm bands. We didnt know it today but we thought that out of conscience we had to do it. We also grew up in the des moines School System and in the des moines School System we were taught that america is a free country and in america we have freedom of speech so we felt that we had the right to wear the black arm bands so i think we understood that we have the right to disrupt the school so we adopted this black piece of cloth that doesnt make any noise at all but it just represents a belief and our belief was that the war in vietnam was wrong so when we got kicked out of school we appealed it to the school board. This is mary beth, our mother. Behind mary beth our father, leonard. And chris sinker to his right. Also you see her black armband. She was suspended also im back behind there somewhere we all attended the shot but we all attended the School Board Meeting and the school board decided to support the principles and so we had been kicked out of school. Our lawyer with what was than the Civil Liberties union the iowa chapter recommended that we go back to School Without the arm bands on so that we wouldnt complicate our case with trans issues. And that we suit the School System for violating our First Amendment rights. So thats what we did. Thats what happened. We lost at the district court. Judge stevenson felt that it was a First Amendment issue, that it was a free speech issue but that the School Authorities had the right to make the rule about that. So we lost our case at the district court, Federal District court level so appealed to the Circuit Court in st. Lewis and normally at the Circuit Court the case is heard by a three judge panel. The three judge panel because of the buyers opinion where the students have won the case at a certain court. Mississippi. The three judge court that the panel of the whole court should hear the case, but they were short when. Judge so instead of nine they only had eight. Those eight judges split in their decision. Four to four. So that made it very much more likely that the Supreme Court would hear the case to clear up this conflict at the Circuit Court level. So we appeal to the Supreme Court. How many cases a year does the Supreme Court take . Not very many. You tell me. They take 80 80 cases out of 10,000. So less than 1 . They thought this was a important case because it has to do with students speech rights and there had only been one case. West virginia versus barnett in 1943 which ruled that students cant be forced to say the pledge of allegiance at Public Schools and thats the only case having to do with freedom of speech for hours. By the way they determined the pledge of allegiance keys in 1943 in the middle of a war they stood up for students right not to say the pledge of allegiance. That was a very strong case. In our case, the judges, also split but it was a seven to two split and we won. It was a very resentment victory for student rights. In our case is the first time that the court said that students in Public Schools are persons under the constitution and that they were endowed with their First Amendment rights. So that has been the role now for the past almost exactly 50 years and it has really empowered student voices. And our case the majority opinion was written by and he rallied in his opinion all of the arguments supporting free speech in a democracy and its a really wonderful decision. If you have the opportunity please look that up and read a for its decision in tinker, the moye, because its a very strong argument for freedom of speech and beyond that he argues that in the schools its it specially important because students are going to grow up to be voting citizens. And its important that students not think that the believe in the First Amendment its just window dressing but we dont believe. In that we be sincere in our belief and our support for the First Amendment. So its a very strong opinion. Not everyone was so happy about us speaking up and standing up for peace. Some of them even sent us some mail like this postcard, say that they hit us and that were communists and they threw red paint at our house and a lady even called me enter into killed me. Others stood up for us like who said that we should have our First Amendment rights. And this is around the time that we actually lost. Im not sure why we are smiling but that was at the Appeals Court when we lost the case and Chris Eckhart was there with us as well. The third plaintiff. Then the happy day. February 24th which we are celebrating this week and we are celebrating all. Year 2019 will be the 50th anniversary of this day when the Supreme Court said seven to their students in our teachers leave their First Amendment right at the school house kate and my favorite stones are persons to like being present everybody . Kind of. Nice who likes . That come on. Lets hear it. Yes theres just nothing like being a person with the responsibilities and the reds of the constitution in our democracy. So it was a great day for young people all over the country, and we are celebrating that today. So thank you all for being here with us to help celebrate were going to open it up i think soon for some questions and your comments. Thank you everybody. Heres to the First Amendment. All right. interpreter applause thank you john and mary beth. As mary beth mentioned its time for you now. For those of you watching the event live share your questions on twitter with the hashtag tinker versus free or on our online form we are going to start with a question from students here with us in the room. Does anyone have a question . My name is how many, oh im talking to this, i am from the west, i was talking to my teacher earlier during our lunch period and he brought up an interesting point which i think goes along the First Amendment. And these modern times where social media is used more now, to cause weather if its a semi friendly protest or Something Like that, how does that play in the First Amendment . Do you guys . Social media its so important and a great way to speak up and stand up for things that you believe in. And there hasnt been a case at the Supreme Court having to do with students speech and social media, there has been a case around adults and facebook. And the court was very protective of the mans right in that case. But i think its only a matter of time before case does make it to the Supreme Court. Of course with social media we want to be respectful with how we use that. So we use our rights to make the world better, not to make it more dangerous. I would like to Say Something regarding speech generally. And it applies to social media. Because a lot of the questions around social media speech have to do with implied threats. And harassment. I think that youre going to find that speech is distinguished between speech which is expressing an idea, and speech which is more or less an assault. Now currently an assault is defined as physical assault but if you have ever been verbally assaulted you understand that it has a physical effect. And hate speech can have a physical effect, and it can also encourage violence, real physical violence. So my view, and my expectation, its that speech will be distinguished more for instance, i cant walk into a bank and say give me your money, and then claim that that was free speech. I cant rob a person with my speech. And likewise, i think what its going to do its going to be distinguished between assault of a and speech which is actually conveying an action. There is no Legal Definition of hate speech. And i believe along with many others that the limit to speech that is not covered should be physical violence. So in schools its a little bit different because we have to maintain an environment where everyone feels safe. So certain cases there, there is a case in san diego, or a student wore a sweater that said you have to be ashamed of your homosexuality. And the court ruled against that. Saying that in tinges on the rights of others. Because in the tinker ruling there are two things that the courts that you cannot do with free speech. Number one, substantial disruption of school. And that comes directly from the mississippi burn site case. And number two, in hinge on the rights of others. Whatever that means. And thats been debated ever since. But sometimes the courts can propel your right to free speech. Because i said, we can infringe on the rights of others. At the lower courts some of the social media cases have been recording, claimed disruption in the school because of speech which occurred on the internet. And so i think thats one of the tougher issues. Yes there are a lot of mixed rules about sometimes the students have prevailed, and other times now, depending on how much of a threat of violence was involved. Speaking of social media, we have a question from twitter. How did your friends and teachers treat you when you wore those arm bands. My teachers were pretty nice about, it really. And my friends were also not hostile to me, id have to say. They were fine. My friends also more or less supported. Ill tell a little story, i was having lunch i, went the first three periods of the day and nobody said anything about my black armband. Or my friends mentioned it, but you know. I wasnt reported to the office, none of the teachers, if any of them saw, one in particular and thinking about, did not reported. So after jim closs, my last period for the morning, i put my clothes back on, i put the black armband over my black shirt, i didnt put my jacket back on, and it stood out really well. So i went to the lunchroom like that and ate like lunch with my friends. They were discussing it, there wasnt a big deal with it. Some kids came over and started harassing me. And they were calling economy, communist, coward that i wasnt patriotic. They were harassing me. And a Football Player came over, and i didnt really know him at the time, i know him better now, but i dont know him at the time he said to the kids. Who are harassing me. Look, you have your opinion about the war, john has his opinion about the war, john has a right to his opinion, leave him alone. And i thought that was just excellent. To have a Football Player applause they are standing up for your rights. We have another question from twitter, she joined us on the online form, she is at a high school in connecticut. She asked, how being involved in this at a young age effect and essentially change your life . Yes, it has changed both of our lives, i think. Because its given us an opportunity to spend our time with young people, like today, and encouraging young people. Its been a great privilege. Actually, it affected my life, im sure. When you have done something significant at a young age you feel like you need to do Something Else or thats the only thing you will be you will have accomplished. So i remain a lifelong peace activist, its still my major identification as an activist. Im very abhors to militarism. I think a large military budget its very detrimental to our society and is preventing us from addressing real issues that we have. The case of going in it at a young age gave me confidence to chart my own course, and ive done that, and im very happy that i was able to do that. Its given both of us the opportunity to speak to students, and teachers, and that mina straighters. I talk regularly with graduate School Classes of school administrators. So im very blessed to be able to have that kind of contact and influence. Lets take a question from the audience. Raise your hand if you have one, please. And we will throw that microphone to you. Hi, my name is steve, i go to gallon. What are your thoughts on the current problems, especially arising on college campuses, of groups of student actively promoting violence to censor speakers that they may not agree with, and just violate the First Amendment of a whole opposite side of the spectrum . Its become a huge issue, especially right now. Im against censorship of speech at college campuses. laughs thats it. College is a place where people can speak and engage and have dialog. And i think thats very, very important. Should we take another question from twitter . Ruby gonzalez, from lopez Early College in brockville, what advice would you give to students who might be hesitant to speak up in their schools for fear of retribution from the school . When you say john . The fewer speaking up because of violence. Where we have frayed . I was. I was in eighth grade, i was 13, i was really shy, and i was nervous. I had the armband in my coat pocket when i walk to school because i was afraid of what somebody on the street might do. Yeah but we had examples in your life. We had the birmingham kids, and they were killed for speaking up in things that they believed in. We had our parents who are examples to us. So i say to kids, find a few other people who care about the issue that you care about, and find whats already going on in that issue, and when you do it makes life so meaningful and interesting and some days even fun. I want to point out, also, that we were not isolated individuals. We were part of a peace movement. In our childhood, we grew up surrounded by the peace movement. We were immersed in the peace movement. And we knew that we had the support of adults around us, we knew that there was a philosophical basis and a moral basis for what we were doing. And i think that lent a helping to what we did. I think if you feel isolated, and alone, and i have felt that way in times of my life for sure about things like care about, try to find at least one other person. Maybe in your school, or maybe in your community, or someone that you can find as a friend, to stand by you. Okay, were looking at you, raise your hand if you have a question. The microphone has been thrown. Hi, michael, i wanted to know what was your reaction you got from the community over your protest . Some people in the community were very supportive and many were somewhere very angry. They misunderstood the idea of patriotism, i think. Some people think that patriotism means just following the policies that your government politicians, etc have decided. And thats Wilder School board president made his mistake also. He came out with a quote of his register saying that our government has made a decision about vietnam, and we should follow it. Thats not democracy. And, really, this is the story of journalism also. Because there were so many journalists that spoke up and covered this case. But you know, our role in democracy its not just to follow what has been decided, its also to think about things into question the decisions of politicians and the government when we feel its gone as trade. In 1965, by the end of 65, the war forever had really been riled up. And people were being told by the media that if we did not stop the north vietnamese they would be attacking california. It was called a domino theory. And so, people whose information was only coming through the established media channels, and they were receiving most of their information via the white house or the state department, they felt that we were destroying the country. And they were afraid of people like us. And thats why there was so much anger directed toward the peace movement. Courage, coward, communism, how can you do this to our country . But people who are brother sense of what was going on, and had a knowledge of history, i think. And more a sense of their own humanity, and rightness of humanity, of conscience, i think we got support from them. So this society is a very broad society, and people acted in different ways depending on where in that Broad Spectrum they came from. And, as the concerns and feelings about the war grew through the years, more and more of the military got involved in speaking about peace. And that i think really got to the war, it wasnt the students, it was also the military soldiers. So many soldiers themselves. So by 1969, when we won the case, it was kind of hard to be really happy about our victory because it was one of the worst years for the war. But so many soldiers were also speaking up about peace. The soldiers were coming back and they knew what the war was. Theyve seen it with their own eyes. So the soldiers that came back and said this is not like were being told it is, they really did swing a lot of the public, and by 1969 the broad center of the curve had much more towards the anti war position. Yes. We have a question from mary, she submitted this form online, shes from Christopher Columbus high school, in miami, florida. Which free speech issue still exists today, and actually surprises you, even as we honor the 50th anniversary of this judgment . To me it surprises me how the rights of the First Amendment are unequally applied, so much, today. And as i travel the country, for example, speaking about journalism, its actually Scholastic Scholastic journalism week this week, so we are celebrating that. So many students dont have journalism at all. So there is a inequality about that, and that is what really surprises me the most. If you go to more upper class schools, or schools with more white students theyre more likely to have speech rights and journalism and all of the five rights of the First Amendment its impresses me but there are storms in the country that are working on that and so many of them are also journalists so we have a number of journalists here today. A stern journalist from florida, from texas, from arkansas, from iowa so everyone is working on that. You know it surprised me to read recently in the news i forget where it was someone he will know. A student was arrested for not pledging allegiance to the flag. Now that surprised me. Can i say in all fairness of the school had said had it not it wasnt for saluting of the flag it was for the substantial disturbance. I have strong feelings about this myself, and i think the police were wrong the teacher that was involved in that lost her job. Thats a consequence of the School System understanding that the student did have a right. That gives me a great deal of pleasure to know that the system is more aware of that these days. I think its also a simple of over policing in schools the american Civil Liberties union goes to the Supreme Court more than any organization and they helped us and theyre helping others just today with issues exactly like. That will take another question for our from our audience here in des moines. Which student is going to get the cube . I have it. Hi my name is ulysses, im a student here, im wondering how you achieve the funds to go to court you mentioned it being four years long. Did you pay out of pocket, did you get funding . How did you raise the funds . A lot of the way that they conduct their cases is through pro bono lawyers in other way in other words he was not only good at arguing the case but helping as feel safe and secure which was a problem at the time ticks lot of people were threatening us so thats how we had no many we had a large family, and through the help of the Civil Liberties union we were able to proceed. Our lawyer passed way a few years ago but he always added he was a very young lawyer i believe he was 29 years old when he won a Supreme Court case and he said if you win a case, if you any Supreme Court case at that age the rest of your career tends to be anticlimactic. We have a question from kevin submitted online from mopeds Early College high school in brownsville, texas, how did you feel when you presented your case to the u. S. Supreme court not knowing how they were going to rule . We didnt do that our selves personally. We testified at the trial court here in des moines at the federal court. I testified first. And i was a little nervous but i wasnt excessively nervous. I had a audience full of adults and sturdy its who i knew supported me and it was a interesting situation. Our lawyer was very good and very friendly and he was able to make us feel comfortable on the stand. The School Board Attorney was not so friendly. He was really trying to rub us into sync something that would be detrimental but honestly on i felt like i could anticipate exactly where he was trying to get me to go and i could avoid that. Anyway in the Appellate Court in st. Louis and at the Supreme Court it is was our lawyer who made the case to the court so we could just sit back and watch. Actually i couldnt watched at the Supreme Court because i missed some flights. I got bumped off of each flight from chicago. Thats true. The Des Moines School board even though they were speaking up against us then and there were some supporters for us in the Des Moines School board, but they have changed their mind and theyve been so supportive and so welcoming and we really appreciate that. Theyve been wonderful to us. You know what the even wore black arm bands a couple members of the Des Moines School board to support students speaking up but that issue. Folks have a couple of minutes left for questions so somebody in the audience ask a quick question with the cube please. Just a quick question please. Hello im omar. I wanted to ask did you have any family members that rejected you or shouldnt you after you went to the Supreme Court . We didnt have any family members that rejected us after the ruling. Some people were kind of mad about it but not too many. But omar i am glad you asked that question. We were talking at lunch also about what you were talking about with discrimination and how you are worried about the internment of the japanese and that could happen again maybe in our country if we dont will speak up and stand up against prejudice and discrimination. Thanks for that. I enjoyed talking about that. Although we didnt have family members that were killed in the war or even served in the war, we had a lot of sympathy for the soldiers who were in vietnam. I always want to make that distinction because youre going to hear me talk against militarism. Im not speaking out against the soldiers. I view the soldiers as another victim of the mueller tourism that so strong in our society. I have a lot of sympathy for people and i have a number of friends who have been soldiers. I think that wraps up the question portion. I think back to mary beth. Thank. You thanks everyone for your Great Questions and comments. So now, we have a special treat. We have two students who are using their First Amendment rights to speak up about the things that they care about and one of them is jenny from north high school. Come on up jenny. North is my old has school. Thats. Rain thats right. Good afternoon everyone. My name is jenny new york. Im a senior and Vice President at the north high school. 50 years ago the tankers not only stood up for their rights but also for people across the nation and that changed our lives forever. Because of your courageous were able to express ourselves and what we we are right and say. Today i woke up not being afraid. Not being afraid of going to school and expressing my ideas. I am glad to say that many kids today are not afraid to speak their minds. They know how to use their voice. If it was 50 years ago censored be expelled or suspended for speaking up for the. Rights that changed because of the tinkers so thank you. I want to tell you but something powerful that happened and with high school. A couple years ago recent political issues at the time motivated student leaders to organize a lookout during script to protest. Signs were made by multiple strength and everyone was united as one. I participated because i knew that my Voice Matters and i knew that if i dont like something i will speak up. Today our generation is exposed to a lot more opportunities to express ourselves. From after School Programs such as to art classes, and lets take journalism for example. We have a great newspaper team here at north high. Oracle. Students get to make their own pitches and design with the like and write about what they believe. In some of the topics that have been covered in arena skippered range from women to lgbtq rights. These topics are usually very sensitive with the newspaper provides us a platform to express ourselves. We are younger because we are young people think that we dont matter. And that our opinions dont matter. But we do matter. Near the leaders of the next generation. So thank you to the tinkers for standing up and letting us have the freedom of speech we have today. Thank you. applause now, thank you so, much thank you so much johnny. They were going to hear from thanks rebecca. Hi my name is Rebecca Schneider and im the editor and chief of the eagle if you dont know as im sure most of you do it was a sight of a shooting that killed 17 people. But i dont think that is what Marjory StonemanDouglas High School is known for. Now were not known as a school of victims were known as a school of fighters who know about ours First Amendment rights we were perseverance to advocate for the rights we earned the right to live. I think if youre going to take anything from today it should be that it doesnt matter your age. We were 14, 15, 16, 17 if you are old enough to be affected by the ills of society year old enough to speak up about it and i havent seen that just as a survivor of a School Shooting i have seen that as a school journalist. That were important to me and my classmates whether they be adobe to cue plus issues whether it be gun violence issues at the school or gun violence on the streets or rip culture. Diversity. Each of these are just as important as the other and if any of these issues or anything else is important to you i encourage you to stand up for your rights, and also speak up for them. Right about them. Ive seen that student preston voices are the most important thing in this country right now and they are the things that are keeping us together. The other things that are holding politicians and Everything Else accountable for their actions. So whatever you believe in whether that be the issues that i said anything else right about, them speak about them, and effect change. Thank you. applause thank you thank you so much for back and thank you all of you for being here. Thank you for using your rights and thank you to everyone on the outline audience for using your First Amendment rights to speak up and make the world a more just place to live. How about that john . Absolutely. Thanks for being here. Thanks for caring about First Amendment rights thanks for caring about the. World you are the future. I know any number of adults have told me that before but its a true. You are also the president at that. Youre the president were really counting on you, we really are, so go out there and make their world a better place. Thank you so much everyone. applause and about half of ohio Iowa Public Television in the state of iowa and young people across the country thank you for sharing your time, and energy to share your story with us today. To the students in the auditorium and those of you who joined us online thank you for your questions and your participation. applause applause witnesses month were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan 3. Supreme Court JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg passed away september 18th at the age of 87. Nominated by president clinton and confirmed by the u. S. Senate in 1990, three ginsburg was the second woman ever to serve on the nations highest Court Following sandra day oconnor. In 2009 Justice Ginsburg give us a tour of her Office Inside the Supreme Court and talked about what goes on behind the scenes there. Watch thursday beginning at 8 pm eastern. And enjoy American History tv this week and every weekend on cspan 3. We might just be a short time away from when america will produce the first safe and effective coronavirus. Every saturday, at 8 pm eastern, on American History tv on cspan 3 go inside a Different College classroom and hear about topics ranging from the american revolution, civil rights, and u. S. President s, to 9 11. Thanks for your patience, and for logging into class. With most College Compass is closed due to the impact of the coronavirus, watch professors try to teach in a virtual setting, to engage with their students. Corporate jobs did most of the work to change to soviet union. But reagan met him halfway, reagan encouraged him, reagan supported him. Freedom of press, which we will get to later, im should mention freedom of the use of the press, and it is in the freedom to prep things and publish things. It is not a freedom for what we take to institutionalize a process. Pictures in history, on American History tv on cspan three. Every saturday, at 8 pm eastern, lectures in history is also available as a podcast. Find it where you en