We cannot let Florida deny us our First Amendment right to speak up | Opinion

Last year, when eviction protections expired and thousands were facing displacement, neighbors, along with organizers and activists, protected each other by demonstrating in front of the homes of those being targeted.

Their actions not only exposed the conditions in which slumlords forced tenants to live, they also showed self determination and community care that have challenged the narrative about people facing eviction. The impact of demonstrating right in our communities, whether to protect neighbors or hold politicians accountable, brings the issues right to our doorsteps and reasserts our right to fight for dignity in the places that matter most to us.

Through organizing, I have learned that many people throughout Florida want their voices heard, no matter their background or location.

One of the ways we practice democracy is by holding decision makers accountable as we increase our ownership over the policies and institutions that affect our daily lives. We do this by coming together in protest as well as through marches, vigils, community meetings, public gatherings, petitions and other forms of advocacy and civic engagement.

Over the past year, our rights to protest and dissent has been threatened by members in the Florida legislature who are attempting to silence our voices, ignoring the pain, anger and the cries of our communities.

The most recent example of this is HB 1571, passed by the Florida Legislature and awaiting Gov. DeSantis’ signature. The legislation would prohibit Floridians from freely assembling in neighborhoods or outside residences to publicly share our views on the issues we care about, including immigration, worker’s rights, housing and tenant protections, and excessive use of force by police.

Many across this state have come together to denounce these bills and and push back against anything that will make it harder for Floridians to exercise our First Amendment right to free speech and peaceful assembly.

Through our common struggle and shared history, the right to protest has been an effective tool to call for change and fight for our existence as Black Americans. HB 1571 will criminalize individuals physically present outside the residences of “any person.” The penalty for simply participating in the democratic process and making our voices heard will be a second-degree misdemeanor, bringing up to 60 days in jail, a $500 fine and six months’ probation.

The bill’s sponsors and Orange County Sheriff John W. Mina say the new legislation is needed, yet the state already has several laws at its disposal to protect neighborhoods and residential property. This bill will waste public resources, while criminalizing and disproportionately impacting Black people for exercising our rights.

Our experiences last year opposing the passage of HB 1, anti-protest legislation that the governor signed into law in April 2021, exposed the racial and implicit biases that underpin bills like HB 1571/SB 1664. The governor and his allies want to silence the perspectives of Floridians who seek to hold them accountable, including Black, Indigenous and other people of color.

This is why we are fighting back against HB 1571 and will always fight against any bill that curtails the freedom of our communities to dissent. We believe in the right to protest and we know these rights and protections were fought for unapologetically by generations who mobilized to use their voices and reimagined a different future.

Ochtavia Reid is a community organizer with The Black Collective Miami.

This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 4:22 PM.