How apropos. Ella and Aidan playing on the slate platform next to the Freedom of Speech wall on the downtown mall directly in front of Charlottesville’s City Hall. The platform bears the permanently inscripted quote "Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” written by John Milton.
The wall is a two-sided wall made of slate on which members of the public may express their views, in chalk, on any subject they choose at any time. We must remember to carry chalk in our car! Ella and Aidan like this place.
What is written on the monument’s chalkboard is constantly changing because the slate is cleaned twice a week on a regularly scheduled basis. Citizens may also clean all or part of the slate at anytime. Ella and Aidan would like to come here and "speak" more often. It's such an important concept - the freedom to think our own thoughts, be our own person, live by our own conscience. Ella and Aidan take little steps towards that freedom everyday.
Faulkner said, "We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it." ...everyday.
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