Our collective vocabulary grows as civil rights protests march on
The English language is fluid and changes constantly. Here’s how the right to protest was described in the First Amendment back in 1791: “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.”
Did you notice the vocabulary? “Redress” is a word we don’t often use anymore, but it was important enough to the Founding Fathers to use in the Bill of Rights.
Flash forward two centuries, and phrases were invented to describe baby boomers’ protests in the 1960s, such as “draft dodgers,” “bra burners” and “flower power.” Gen X added “save the whales” and “take back the night” to our collective consciousness. The millennials and Gen Z have contributed words to our protest lexicon, too, and learning the new terminology helps us all advocate for civil rights.
What is a hashtag and how do people use them to protest?
A hashtag is the pound sign followed by a word (or a string of words with no spaces) describing what you’re talking about, such as #Injustice or #BlackLivesMatter. You’re most likely to see hashtags on Twitter or Instagram, where they are used as keys to conversations, but people use hashtags on Facebook, too.
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