This piece originally appeared on AL.com on March 7, 2025.

The world reacted with shock and horror as news filtered out of Selma 60 years ago. There, Americans had merely peacefully protested in support of their civil right to vote.

The resistance was swift—and violent.

Local law enforcement, Alabama State Troopers, and a vigilante mob on horseback beat and bloodied the men and women who had gathered at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It was a brutal assault that injured hundreds.

Six decades later, the story of that “Bloody Sunday” in Selma shouldn’t be confined to the pages of history books. It is a story of enduring constitutional principles; it is a story about every American’s right to stand up and speak out without fear of governmental retribution.

The First Amendment prohibits the government from interfering with “the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” But it is rarely that simple. When individuals come together in peaceable pursuit of a common goal—a goal that is frequently related to the furtherance of constitutionally-protected rights—those with opposing views are often quick to respond. And if their response is aligned with the views of those who hold the reins of governing power, that constitutional right becomes that much more difficult to exercise.

And that’s exactly what happened that fateful day in Selma. A United Press International reporter detailed the disaster that unfolded: “The troopers and posseman, under Gov. George C. Wallace’s orders to stop the Negroes’ ‘Walk for Freedom’ from Selma to Montgomery, chased the screaming, bleeding marchers nearly a mile back to their church, clubbing them as they ran. Ambulances screamed in relays between Good Samaritan Hospital and Brown’s Chapel Church, carrying hysterical men, women and children suffering head wounds and tear gas burns.”

A federal judge later ruled that the state of Alabama could not restrict the marchers’ right to assemble, protest, and petition the government. Weeks later, state officials did just that during a subsequent march from Selma to Montgomery. The price of freely exercising those constitutional rights should not have been that high.

The biggest ally for those who wish to advance liberty and defend their rights—indeed, our biggest ally and your biggest ally—is none other than the First Amendment. And it serves as your constitutional shield regardless of whether you want to assemble in public or private.

Last year, advocates of the freedom to peaceably assemble celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Flowers, a landmark 1964 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States. Finally, after eight long years, the NAACP was free to return to Alabama. That state had ousted the civil rights organization, saying it could not conduct business in the Heart of Dixie unless it turned over its membership lists to the state. A unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment prevented such compelled disclosure.

But threats to associational freedom continue, six decades later.

Although groups today may not face the same scale of violence as civil rights activists in Selma, politically motivated harassment persists. The growth of the Internet and the expansion of disclosure laws, especially at the state level, have made it easier than ever to identify and harass supporters of a cause. It’s a nonpartisan issue. No matter who holds power, donor privacy can come under attack because threats are motivated by retribution, not ideology.

Exposing donors to groups that advocate on issues—from Black Lives Matter groups and Tea Party chapters to longstanding organizations like Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, or Americans for Prosperity—chills free speech by silencing important voices critical of powerful government officials.

Nonprofit groups like the NAACP were pivotal in organizing the peaceful assemblies of the civil rights movement. If their donors had been exposed, history may have unfolded differently. The First Amendment helped to ensure that this didn’t happen.

So, 60 years later, the lessons of Selma remain very relevant. If you want to speak out, then speak up. Take a stand, because the First Amendment stands for you.