By Soven Bery ’15, Editor-In-Chief

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” said the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in his now famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail. With MLK Day having passed recently and Selma igniting discussion, it seemed appropriate to lead off with a quote from the Civil Rights leader. King was a brilliant orator and his speeches resonated with his audience. This quote is no different; 51 years later it still makes sense.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

That is exactly why Paris is important. That is why the phrase “Je suis Charlie” is important (translates to “I am Charlie”). What happened in Paris didn’t just happen to those affiliated with the newspaper Charlie Hebdo. It didn’t just happen to a city, to a country, to a continent. It happened to all of us. We are all Charlie Hebdo writers. We are all Parisians.

We are all affected by the terrorist attacks that occurred on the morning of January 7^th. Two armed gunmen entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo and fired 50 shots. 11 people died, 11 others were injured and a French Police officer was shot later. The gunmen were later identified as being part of the notorious terrorist network Al-Qaeda and, during the murders, screamed “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest). Charlie Hebdo had angered Al-Qaeda with their depictions and jokes about Muhammad, the founder of Islam and, as Muslims believe, the prophet of God. However, the newspaper wasn’t solely targeting Islam. Hebdo is a satirical newspaper and mocks Christianity, Judaism, Israel, politics, sex, culture, literally anything and everything. It makes fun of the world, in the same vein as The Onion, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and the like. Like those satirical publications or programs, Charlie Hebdo is protected by free speech.

We are all protected by free speech. The Minuteman is protected by free speech. Thus, an attack on free speech in Paris is a threat to free speech everywhere. Defending Charlie Hebdo isn’t defending every cartoon they ever published. Defending Charlie Hebdo is defending their right to publish. Satire is in itself an art form. In the darkest times of injustice, tyranny and totalitarianism, people have time and time again found solace in the pen. It is a way, akin to protesting, to voice displeasure. Our country was built on satire; countless cartoons and articles criticizing King George preceded the American Revolutionary War. The United States of America was built on the principles of free speech. Free speech is more than a cliché talking point that politicians use excessively. It is the representation of the American ideal. Family Guy can mock Jesus, South Park can deride Moses. It is a human right to be able to speak out against whatever, in whichever fashion. This isn’t a debate of the role of Islam in the modern world; rather, this is a debate of the role of free speech in the modern world.

What happened in Paris is scary, not only because eleven innocent journalists are dead, but also because it could happen again in Los Angeles or Chicago or New York.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.