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I didn’t set out to make political content. That wasn’t the goal. I didn’t wake up one morning and decide I wanted to throw my voice into the endless, exhausting echo chamber of left vs. right. But lately, everything is political. Everything. From books in school libraries to comedy on late-night TV. From public health to public radio. From pronouns to postage stamps. And that’s what pushed me to go back to the source: to look at where our freedoms of speech and the press even came from, why they were written into the Constitution, and why they matter right now more than ever. If we don’t understand them, or worse, if we take them for granted, we’re going to lose them.
I went down a rabbit hole, so you don’t have to. Here’s what I found.
In the 1600s, governments controlled printing presses. If you wanted to publish anything, like a book, a pamphlet, or a poem, you had to get government approval first. A man named John Milton (yes, the poet) wrote a fiery essay in 1644 called Areopagitica, arguing that truth doesn’t need government permission. That was one of the earliest and boldest cases for what would eventually become known as freedom of the press.
By the time the American colonies were writing their founding documents, the idea that speech and publication should be protected from government control had taken root. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, made it official: "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."
These weren’t abstract ideas. They were built on lived experience; on censorship, repression, and punishment for dissent. The founders didn’t agree on everything, but they agreed on this: you can’t have a functioning democracy without a free flow of information and a safe space for unpopular opinions.
Fast forward to now. We’ve never had more ways to speak. We’ve never had more tools to publish or ways to broadcast. And yet, freedom of speech and freedom of the press have never felt more under threat. But this isn’t coming from just the government anymore. This is coming from everywhere.
We are living in a moment where media companies, workplaces, and social platforms are reacting not with measured discussion but with knee-jerk cancellation. We're watching a chilling shift where the cultural and economic forces that once protected open dialogue are now punishing it.
Look at what just happened: Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was abruptly taken off the air. Why? Because, in a recent monologue, he criticized the president's reaction to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. He called out the performative grief, the political exploitation of a tragedy, and made a joke (an uncomfortable one) about the president mourning Kirk like a child grieves a goldfish. Some people were outraged. ABC folded under pressure and pulled the show. Kimmel is now indefinitely suspended.
At the same time, Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah was fired for posting what she described as “measured” commentary about Kirk’s assassination. She condemned violence and hatred. She paraphrased one of Kirk’s past remarks about Black women, holding a mirror up to his record. She didn’t celebrate his death. She didn’t mock it. She just didn’t mourn loudly enough. And that was apparently too much. She was fired without a conversation.
This isn't just about one comedian and one columnist. This is about a culture that’s becoming more brittle, more reactive, more authoritarian, not from the top down, but from every direction. We’re seeing a new kind of censorship. It doesn’t always come with laws or jail time. It comes through backlash. Through the fear of being labeled. Through job loss. Through silence.
Some call this "accountability." And sometimes, yes, people should be held accountable for speech that crosses into hate or incitement. But we're moving the goalposts. We're turning disagreement into disqualification. We’re punishing people for expressing ideas that don’t fit the current political mood, even if those ideas are necessary, thoughtful, or grounded in truth.
Here’s what scares me most: this is happening on both sides. There is no monopoly on overreaction. And it’s dangerous because when we prioritize party over principle, when we cancel people instead of confronting what they’re saying, when we let fear, not freedom, govern our discourse, we’re not just hurting individuals. We’re weakening the very foundations of our democracy.
This country was built on disagreement. Progress has always come from discomfort. From Frederick Douglass to Ida B. Wells to James Baldwin to Rachel Carson to the journalists who exposed Watergate, the power to speak hard truths, to challenge authority, to hold leaders accountable, to say the unpopular thing, is what has kept us evolving as a society. And we cannot protect that tradition if we’re constantly deciding who is too controversial to be heard.
So what do we do?
First, we need to support the press, especially local journalism. Local newsrooms are vanishing, and with them goes the accountability we rely on to keep our communities safe and informed. Subscribe. Donate. Amplify. It matters.
Second, we need to relearn how to disagree. Disagreement is not violence. Debate is not harmful. When someone says something we hate, the answer isn’t silence - it’s counterspeech. It's showing up with facts, not fear.
Third, we need to push for transparency around political deepfakes, AI-generated content, and the manipulation of speech online. If we can’t trust what we’re seeing and hearing, we can’t participate meaningfully in democracy.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, we have to resist the urge to pick party over country. Over and over again, we’re watching people contort themselves to defend behavior they’d condemn if it came from the other side. We’re watching friends, neighbors, and leaders suspend their values for the sake of political loyalty. That’s not patriotism. That’s tribalism.
We can’t afford to lose sight of what this country is supposed to be. We are not supposed to agree on everything. But we are supposed to be able to speak. We are supposed to be able to publish and broadcast. In a democracy, speaking truth to power should never come with the risk of being erased. That’s how freedom works. And if we want to keep it, we’re going to have to fight for it.
Every single one of us.
Update: When I finished writing this newsletter, Jimmy Kimmel was still suspended. Since then, Disney has reversed course and put him back on the air after massive backlash from free speech advocates, celebrities, and ordinary citizens. That’s good news, but it doesn’t erase what happened: a comedian’s critique of the president triggered regulatory threats, affiliate blackouts, and corporate panic. His reinstatement only underscores my point. Free speech is fragile, and protecting it can’t depend on celebrity clout or public outcry. If it takes nationwide outrage to bring back one late-night host, imagine how much easier it is to silence ordinary voices.
In full transparency - ChatGPT generated this image for me.
Local Spotlight: Sahan Journal
Let’s talk about a newsroom that’s actually walking the walk. Sahan Journal is a nonprofit digital news organization based in Minnesota, founded by Somali-American journalist Mukhtar Ibrahim. Their mission? To cover immigrants and communities of color with depth, dignity, and nuance, something the mainstream press often fails to do. In a time when media consolidation is eliminating voices and shrinking coverage, Sahan Journal is doing the opposite: investing in storytelling that reflects the real Minnesota.
They’re not just reporting on the margins, they’re centering them. Their work holds power accountable, amplifies community perspectives, and makes sure diverse Minnesotans see themselves in the news. They’re proof that local journalism can be bold, inclusive, and essential. If you're looking for a way to support both democracy and equity at the same time, this is it. Subscribe. Donate. Share their work.
National Spotlight: Freedom of the Press Foundation
Nationally, the Freedom of the Press Foundation is on the front lines defending journalists from censorship, surveillance, and intimidation. They track attacks on press freedom, offer digital security training to newsrooms, and fight in court for the public's right to know. These are not abstract ideals; they're active battlegrounds. The Foundation is also behind the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a sobering reminder that reporters are being arrested, assaulted, and harassed in this country, right now.
This work isn’t partisan; it’s patriotic. No matter who’s in power, transparency and accountability are non-negotiable. That only happens when a free press is free to report. Want to protect democracy? Back the people doing that work every damn day.
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"To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker." - Frederick Douglass
