• March 7, 2023

    1:00-2:00 pm ET

    Race and Reckoning: Democracy in the Balance

    The U.S. emerged from World War I as the most dominant democracy ever—a model for aspiring democracies worldwide. Yet today that democracy seems increasingly fragile—as America struggles with divisions of race, ethnicity, and class; as the very exceptionalism that symbolized our freedom threatens to undermine our most noble aspirations; and as young people wonder whether they will have a democracy left to celebrate.

    Join RAD creator and best-selling author Ellis Cose and Dr. Bobby Austin for a virtual conversation and Q&A about the most pressing issues facing American democracy and how civic education and civility can create a better future.

    Register to attend this virtual event here.

  • March 22, 2023

    Race and Reckoning, with Democracy in the Balance

    Morgan State University, Baltimore

  • March 23, 2023

    The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America

    Critically acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Ellis Cose joins the First Amendment Museum for a discussion focused on his book The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America, which explores our right to free speech in America and how that right is crumbling under the combined weight of technology, polarization, money, and systematized lying.

    Register to attend this virtual event here.

  • Other upcoming events

    Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA

    Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA

    University of Miami, Miami, FL

    Florida A&M, Tallahassee, FL

  • Recent Events

    February 23, 2023

    “Race and Reckoning, with Democracy in the Balance”

    University of California, Santa Barbara with the Capps Center

    February 28, 2023

    “Race and Reckoning, with Democracy in the Balance”

    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

    March 1, 2023

    Ralph Bunche Center, UCLA

On June 30, 2022 we held our second Democracy Dialogue, “Free Speech and Hate Speech: How Much Can We Take?”

In an age where hate has gone viral and virtual forums inspire mass killings, can the First Amendment still be viewed in the benign light of the past? How can we manage the unintended consequences of free speech? Is speech an issue society must readdress? Given the politics of the moment and ever-expanding role of the internet, what is the principled position when it comes to speech?

The panel offered a searching and provocative exploration of where the debate over free speech debate stands today, and where it should be going.

Speakers

Martin Garbus, renowned constitutional lawyer whose clients have ranged from Lenny Bruce and Andrei Sakharov to the Public Broadcasting System and Great Britain’s Channel 4

Cathy Buerger, Director of Research, Dangerous Speech Project

Ben Holden, Professor of Journalism, with research and teaching emphasis on the First Amendment, Northwestern University

Emerson Sykes, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project

Moderator

Ellis Cose, Director, Renewing American Democracy project, and author of The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America

On March 30, 2022 we held our inaugural Democracy Dialogue with US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on civics, young people, and the future of American democracy