In Huntington Woods, a battle has ensued over what you are allowed to say at the city’s Fourth of July parade. 

New rules would strip protest signs down to nothing but a group’s name and logo. A University of Michigan law clinic has told the city that those rules are unconstitutional and demanded their repeal.

In a June 12 letter, the University of Michigan’s Civil Rights Litigation Initiative — the clinic representing the Peace Group — says City Manager Andrew Pazuchowski told members the new rules were prompted by complaints about the group’s signs calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, along with a general concern about public safety. The clinic argues the rules were written to suppress a disfavored viewpoint and says that, to the group’s knowledge, there has never been a safety incident at the parade.

The Metro contacted the City of Huntington Woods for comment but did not receive a response.

Suhair Ghannam, a Huntington Woods resident and member of the Huntington Woods Peace Group, is in the middle of it. To understand why this cuts so deep for her, you have to go back to a dinner table in Nazareth, where a little girl learned not to talk about politics. Because where she grew up, speaking your mind wasn’t safe.

Ghannam joined host Robyn Vincent to discuss coming to the U.S. at 20 years old and finding the thing she says she treasures most about this country: the freedom to speak.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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