This is an editorial written by our student editor-in-chief, Bryan Santiago. If you are interested in writing an opinion piece for The Journal, please contact us through email: thejournalmvsa@gmail.com.
Dear Readers,
I would like to thank you as we approach the end of the 2019 calendar year. 2020 represents not only a new decade or new year, but a new opportunity to strengthen our community relations. Being a student journalist is tough, I can say that. Being the only one able to write about the issues affecting my school, now that's an even bigger challenge. I was ambitious to say the least when it comes to this online publication of ours — I knew there was another, more famous, journalism company with a similar title, but I still did not back down. We do almost the same thing except we're (very) much smaller, we don't use paper, and haven't been around for a long time. Except for the fact that our namesake is a cornerstone in the story of America: John Peter Zenger, a newspaper apprentice, was at the Great Election of 1733 and witnessed Sheriff Nicholas Cooper's disenfranchisement of 32 Quakers simply because their beliefs prohibited them from swearing on the Bible. While Sheriff Cooper's act helped the Royal Governor, William Cosby, and his candidate, William Forester, it was Forester's opponent, Lewis Morris, who actually won. Zenger then published the first issue of the "New York Weekly Journal" with an article on this corruption during the Election. Crosby hated it so much that he burned 4 issues of the "Weekly Journal". When that did not get people's attention, Crosby put Zenger in jail for 9 months and charged him with libel, or written defamation. Zenger was represented by famous colonial lawyer Alexander Hamilton of Philadelphia, with Hamilton explaining "whether he [Zenger] had the right to print what was 'notoriously' true". (circa 1980 brochure on history of Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site) The Zenger trial would be remembered for not just the establishment of a judicial precedent in New York State regarding freedom of the press, but would be the reason why the First Amendment to the Constitution includes freedom of the press. The Great Election of 1733 actually happened on the Village Green at St. Paul's Church N.H.S., and is greatly admired for its local place in national history with its title, "the National Shrine of the Bill of Rights". Administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service, it is also one of 25 affiliated sites throughout the NPS with an agreement with non-profit Society of the National Shrine of the Bill of Rights, Inc. This year, I visited St. Paul's on Veterans Day this year to honor our local heroes and I even met David Osborn, the Site Manager. St. Paul's is one of the many things Mount Vernonites are proud to share with the world, like Dick Clark of "New Year's Rockin' Eve" and Memorial Field, the taping location for Mean Joe Greene's famed Coca-Cola commercial "Hey Kid, Catch!". In April, we here at The Journal of the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy will celebrate our first anniversary. Until then, I thank you for supporting our endeavor to bring you the stories of our local, diverse community. Happy holidays.
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