Freedom – A Tanka

Posted on by Colleen M. Chesebro

The crisis goes on –

fear mongering overflows,

rage fills broken hearts.

The revolution descends

changing futures forever.

~Colleen Chesebro~

All of us value our free speech. It is that freedom that has allowed us to share our thoughts on our blogs and in our many writings. Writing has always been a way for me to deal with the feelings that roll around inside my head. Just think for a moment if the government censored our freedom to speech. Where would we be?

The first step in destabilizing a government is to limit the people’s freedom of speech.

Wikipedia shares (click the highlighted links below to learn more):

“The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, ensuring that there is no prohibition on the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.”

Know your rights. Hugs and love to all.

35 thoughts on “Freedom – A Tanka”

      1. Is it not wonderful that we are at this moment still living in a country where are able to speak freely as we do. 🙂

        I say continue to express yourself, others certainly have no care to whom they offend or if they offend at all.

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        1. You said it, Dorna. We live in some strange times. Thanks for your kind words. You are greatly appreciated. ❤

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    1. Hi, Erika! Thank you so much. These words came to me today. I’m not getting any further in my WIP for NaNo but, oh well. What do you do? It has to flow. Hugs, my friend. ❤

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      1. So what! As long as you had fun with the ones you did this is all that matters. We need to have time and peace for doing it and being hit by inspiration … lol… Hugs back at you, dear 💖

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  4. We have the rights, Colleen, but for how long? We seem to have given up most of our rights thru our apathy. And by saying “we” I have to admit it is not completely the royal “we” all of the time.

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    1. One can only hope. I have a blended family. My grandkids are being terrorized. It’s hard to have hope when that happens. ❤

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        1. Definitely not their parents. They live in Utah where their mom (our daughter) works on Hill AFB. The kids are horrible to them.

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          2. I know. Kids can be so mean anyway. When you get to Jr. High, and High School the kids are just cruel. Let’s keep good vibes going. Maybe that will help. ❤

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          3. When I was in elementary and jr. high, I was called names, laughed at, and pushed around just because I had Tourette’s syndrome. It wasn’t a political thing. I think that it is, as you say, that kids can be mean.

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          4. My grandbabies are white, Thai, and black. They’re brilliant and get straight A’s. There’s always been animosity but it is worse since the election. The names the girls are called… well you can imagine. We must combat the hatred! The Alt-R ties don’t make it easier.

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          5. I live in a small rural county that is predominantly republican. Every day I see couples who are of different races. It’s quite common for neighborhoods to be blended and rarely do I hear slurs about people of other races, unless words like “neighbors” and “friends” are considered slurs. Where do I hear the worst slurs and hatred? From people up north. New York City and Chicago are the worst.

            I had a relative, a native of Chicago, who ranted a volley of slurs as she told me about the people who lived in public housing projects like Cabrini-Green. Those kinds of words are usually attributed to the deep south.

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          6. How interesting. I’m from Wisconsin. This hate is every where. Here in Colorado we have a high Hispanic population. I never hear anything derogatory. Now mind you. I retired early and am not working. The people who have been the most difficult in the neighborhood are Republican and ultra conservative. I stay away. It’s just better that way.

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          7. I know what you mean. It’s the same if a person is a constitutional conservative living in a neighborhood with ultra liberal people who think nothing of throwing around labels and judging people by their politics, color, and/or dress instead of getting to know the people first.

            I saw a meme the other day and said out loud, “That’s me!” It was a libertarian addition to the political scene: I’m too conservative for liberals and too liberal for conservatives.”

            I think I feel a post coming on. 🙂

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          8. LOL! Me too. I’m a tween . I’m not totally a Democrat and I’m not a Republican! 😳 I think what is important is that in many ways we are in the dark about every one else. I love that we could write our thoughts and voice our opinions. Don’t get me wrong. I mourned what I perceived could have been. But, we must move forward and respect all of the people, not just a few. Thanks for the great discussion. It feels good to say what’s in my heart. ❤️

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    1. Viva, the scary thing is there is so much fake news, no one knows what is real anymore. This chaos is not good for our democracy. Let’s only hope that is not how the next 4 years is going to be… ❤

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