First Amendment

I created this flag during the time of the hostage crisis.

I remember that people used to tie yellow ribbons around the trees to show their support for the hostages and their hope for their safe return. The yellow ribbon is a symbol of awareness and solidarity for various causes. On the bottom of this yellow flag, I wrote the First Amendment backwards in a subtle way. The First Amendment is the part of the Bill of Rights that guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press, as well as the right to assemble and petition the government. I feel that this freedom is under attack since I came to this country. I noticed that many people want to reverse it or take it away. They label any speech that they disagree with as inflammatory or hateful. They accuse anyone who speaks their mind of being racist,

homophobic, or phobic of something else. I think that we do not have real freedom of speech in this country. It is only nice on paper, but in reality, we face consequences for expressing our opinions. If we are not careful, they will take away our rights and make us like other countries where people can be jailed for

saying something. It is happening here too, but in a different way.

They will isolate us, boycott us, ruin our businesses, force us to move to another state, or even make us change our names and go into hiding if they do not like our speech or thoughts. That is what I have experienced in my own life. It is very subtle, but it is real. letes free the hostage!