Does the First Amendment preclude local governments from putting up Christmas decorations, including the depictions of the Nativity? Not if the “Reindeer Rule” is followed. The rule helps protect the First Amendment separation of church and state. David Callaway, former religious freedom specialist of the Freedom Forum, explores the origins of the “Reindeer Rule” and what it means.

Black gospel music and its free speech implications will be the focus of a program by the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. “Free Speech, Freedom Songs and the Music of Liberation” will be presented in the Overby Center auditorium on Feb. 25 as a part of Black History Month. 

R.J. Morgan, instructional associate professor in the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi and director of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association, discusses the annual Fall Statewide Convention at the University of Southern Mississippi. MSPA has a new partnership with Press Forward Mississippi which aims to strengthen local media.

Robert F. Darden of the Overby Center panel of experts writes that, when freedom of speech was restricted, protest spirituals were an effective means of communication that also became foundational messages for the Civil Rights Movement.