Speaker's Corner
The Source
The third weekend of May ought to be a doozy. After years of planning, dreaming, and more recently excavating and paving, the Jacksonville Square will once again be lit with promise. The planners of the celebration promise bands, beer, and a bevy of entertainment along with events for the kids and even a return of Big Eli, the Ferris wheel. And who could resist the charms of a ton of prancing Clydesdale? One sweet weekend coming our way….but if I could make just one more suggestion… Any visitor to London tries to time his visit to occur over a Sunday if he wants to see the oldest and perhaps purest form of democracy in action. In 1855 a riot broke out in London’s Hyde Park, near the famed Marble Arch. The British Parliament had passed something called the Sunday Trading Bill, which forbade buying and selling on a Sunday. Most working folks had only Sunday off to do these things so they staged a riot. That was the beginning of what has become known as Speaker’s Corner. I’ve been fortunate enough to be in London on several Sundays and have made Speakers Corner a part of my group’s tour. In short, it’s a riot. To celebrate England’s proud tradition of free speech, the area is open to anyone who wants to climb up on a box and speak about anything…and I mean anything. A fellow named Danny Shine expounds upon the pure absurdity of society and carries a sign saying, “Don’t believe anyone…including me.” Preachers of all faiths shout and cajole the crowd, the more incendiary the better. World affairs is a hot topic at Speaker’s Corner and more than once I’ve had a speaker zero in on me as an obvious American. (I’ve always wondered how they figured that out. Aren’t there bald Europeans, too?) But the real fun comes from the hecklers. Sunday morning in London brings out a group of professional hecklers who stroll into the park for the single purpose of shouting down the soapbox orators. I mean it can get nasty, and it doesn’t take long to figure out that the most popular speakers are those who can make the most ridiculous comments. The British police are usually on hand but the only time they gently reprimand a speaker is when they hear profanity. I think it’s also illegal to advocate drowning the Queen…something like that. But here’s the cool part….these people are having a great time. Yes, the rhetoric is rabid and the heckling is merciless, but they’re having the time of their lives. These aren’t dimwitted blabberers….although loud and angry-sounding, their diatribes are well-worded and articulate. It’s like a Congressional debate with brains. So…..according to my little map of the Downtown Jacksonville Square celebration, nothing much is scheduled to happen in the square’s green area..the very center. What a great place for the Jacksonville Speaker’s Corner! Lord knows we have the ammunition. We have the speakers. We have the hecklers. Okay, I’m not certain that we have the nerve since most of the potshots in town are taken behind the anonymity of open lines and anonymous internet blogs, but what a glorious breath of fresh air to finally be able to put faces on these complaining voices! Let them climb upon their soapbox! Let them heckle each other in a spirit of free speech and tolerance toward another’s viewpoint! Let freedom ring from the hallowed walls of the Farmers Bank building to the fish tanks at Aquatic Treasures! Let’s celebrate our various viewpoints from the classy patterns of Jacksonville Art Glass to the aroma-enticing kitchens of the Brick House Barbecue! Let the Three-Legged Dog shake his phantom leg in delight as those who have a gripe come out of their darkened basements and put their name behind their complaints! Let’s open the square! Let freedom ring! And of course if you’d like to say something nice we’d allow that as well, but I doubt you’ll draw as much crowd as the Clydesdales.