More Americans can name the 5 Simpsons than can identify the five rights guaranteed by the

First Amendment. How many (Simpsons and First Amendment Rights) can you name?

An Artist’s Formal Depiction of the Bill of Rights. Several early American symbols are

incorporated, and it’s heavy on the 2nd Amendment imagery.

Norman Rockwell’s depiction of “Freedom of Speech.”

Cartoonist and political artist William Gropper’s depiction of Senator Joseph McCarthy trampling on the Constitution and Shredding the Bill of Rights.

A current cartoon dealing with free speech contradictions.

African-American artist Faith Ringgold’s “Freedom of Speech.” The test of the First Amendment are depicted on the red

stripes on the flag; on the white stripes and over the stars are people and events in history that touch the First Amendment

in some way – many are people or organizations whose First Amendment rights, at least arguably, were curtailed

(Paul Robeson; the American Communist Party; Elijah Lovejoy; etc.)

An artist’s depiction of freedom of the press

Here an artist employs another American icon – the Statue of Liberty – to criticize the Patriot Act.

The artist Dread Scott’s controversial art installation

“What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag?”

Visitors were invited to comment about the flag and

their feelings about it – but had to step on the flag

to do so.

Students can use other means to express their feelings about the Bill of Rights – t-shirts, for instance

Bumper stickers are also an art form

The artist Richard Minsky created a series of art works, each depicting one of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights, and each one incorporating a book of some kind. This is his treatment of the Fourth Amendment. The book is one of the first literary works that addressed the issue of cyberspace, and by using that book and the circuit board, Minsky is endeavoring to raise questions about internet intrusion into our private lives – how much is that privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment?

http://www.illinoisfirstamendmentcenter.com/flv/tv.htm

This website has examples of videos

Some jazzy videos, aimed at teens, focused on the First Amendment.

Song about civil rights to a known tune

A Bill of Rights related riff on Suzanne Vega’s song “Tom’s Diner.” If you can’t access it via this PowerPoint, you can get in on the district website.

A prize-winning student poster celebrating freedom of the press.

Another student poster

Another student poster.