Free speech is a right not to be taken for granted

Earlier this month, a 15-year-old Pakistani girl named Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head while riding a school bus. She had been courageously advocating education for girls and criticizing oppressive Taliban policies. Freedom of speech is intolerable to those who fear opposition.

In the U.S., the First Amendment to our Constitution guarantees our right to freedom of expression. Here, we as individual citizens may express beliefs and ideas without fear. Holding a "tea party" at the state Capitol or "occupying" a portion of Honolulu are deemed acceptable and almost routine.

National Free Speech Week is being celebrated from Oct. 22 through Oct. 28 this year. Its focus is to celebrate and highlight awareness of the critical importance of free speech and a free press in our democracy.

First created in 2005 by non-profit The Media Institute, Free Speech Week is not a political or ideological platform. Its only goal is to raise public awareness of this fundamental freedom that was recognized by America’s founding fathers as central to a thriving democracy.

Our country was founded by people fleeing religious persecution in the lands from which they came, and many of our island community’s more recent arrivals have come from countries where freedom of speech is not a right and where the government can impinge upon people’s free expression.

And in Hawaii itself, we have an admittedly checkered history when it comes to free speech. Ironically, when Hawaii was annexed as a U.S. territory in 1898, the Hawaiian language was officially banned from schools and the government. The native language of this land was dying a slow-but-steady death because of this impingement on the right of free speech.

‘Olelo Community Media is committed to ensuring that the citizens of this community have access to airtime, equipment and training so they may better exercise their freedom of speech. We encourage all citizens to speak freely, to find their voices and to do so without fear, as is our right in this democracy.

To quote the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: "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."

All of us at ‘Olelo hope that every member of the community appreciates this right — one that so many 15-year-old girls around the world like Malala do not have. Free speech: It really is the cherished language of this land.