#freetotweet

Brian DeConinck, one of 22 winners of the #freetotweet scholarship competition. More than 17,000 entries, most of them tweets, extolled the importance of the First Amendment on the 220th birthday of the Bill of Rights, and the winners were announced yesterday, the 261st birthday of James Madison. Check out all the winning tweets here. 

I'm free to tweet... ...thanks to my first amendment rights, that is: It's because of my freedoms stated in the first amendment-my freedoms to speak, petition, assemble, print, and worship the religion I choose-that I can tweet without rhyme or reason. As an aspiring journalist who will be attending college in the fall, I am one who will be getting the most use out of my first amendment. Freedoms of the press and speech are what make news happen, and I am extremely thankful that I will have these rights throughout my career as a journalist and a broadcaster. By taking advantage of the first amendment, I am exercising my rights as a citizen of the United States of America. May U.S. citizens everywhere feel truly blessed by these freedoms that are given to us through the U.S. Constitution. I know I am.

For me, songwriting is my primary means of expression. Lyric and melody make for a potent combination; music is the medium through which I voice my opinions. I love staying up at night, staring at the starry skies with my moonlit eyes, pen furiously gliding over paper, my mind brimming with inspiration. I revere the folk musicians of the 1960s, whose words of change inspired countless men and women to stand for what they believed in. The true meaning of songwriting is not reaching #1 on the Hot 100 charts, the true meaning of songwriting is to inspire- therein lies the correlation between songwriting and the First Amendment. The most recognized achievement of the First Amendment is the prohibition of any rules or regulations that would abridge free speech. If there was no First Amendment, music would not have any influence today. The winds of change brought along during the 1960s would not have happened. The lyric I write on the uptown train, the melody I hum while jogging on the bike path, I create them because I want to inspire individuals; without the First Amendment, there would be little reason for me to write, sing, record and perform. Live for a reason – with every chord I strum, melody I sing, and emotion I describe, I find that my life serves more of a purpose. With free speech and countless other musicians by my side, I believe that my aspirations to inspire are worthwhile efforts.

Happy Bill of Rights Day! Celebrate the First Ammendment, and speak your mind! :)

which is exactly what i do on this blog. :)

Many students at our Hot Spots are participating in the Knight Foundation's "Free to Tweet" celebration of their First Amendment Rights, citing their rights as artists, musicians, and politically active youth.

Today is the 220th anniversary of our rights as Americans to have the freedom of speech, one of the most important rights we have. Many other people around the world do not have the freedoms that we do, including this one, which is extremely unfortunate. I can't even imagine not having the right to blog or tweet about what I want to say, or if musicians and protesters were silenced by the government if they wanted to speak out about issues. We as Americans are so fortunate to have the right to speak our mind, speak up about issues in politics that concern us, and have the freedom to practice whatever religion we choose. I feel like sometimes we take this right for granted because it's something we have all had since we can remember, so we need to celebrate today and recognize that we are very fortunate to have this right. You have a voice, so use it!

Find out how you can earn a scholarship just by hashtagging #FreeToTweet at midnight (Dec. 15th) about why the First Amendment is important to you.