HISD students gave poignant speeches on Martin Luther King Jr.'s messages of hope at the annual MLK Day competition.

Music played a powerful role in the Civil Rights era, providing a soundtrack for the movement and inspiring hope for change with songs like "We Shall Overcome", "A Change Is Gonna Come", "People Get Ready",

Whatever the term, historians largely agree: The United States was born out of protest 250 years ago and has been propelled forward by raucous social movements, from abolition to civil rights, ever since.

MLK III, who is the chairman of the Drum Major Institute, rebuked the recent escalations by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officers, who have surged into Minneapolis by the thousands and have also been sent to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston.

When Maui musician Gail Swanson was growing up in Chicago, she would often accompany her mother on protest marches. “On the weekends she would take my sister and I to the marches when Martin Luther King Jr.

Although the First Amendment protects the right to free speech and assembly, those rights are not unlimited under state law, and protesters can face criminal charges over behavior at protests.

The Trump administration has drawn record-setting protests nationwide, prompting millions of Americans to learn how to safely and legally exercise their right to demonstrate. Why it matters: The right to assemble and demonstrate is covered by the First Amendment,

Claudette Colvin, at 15, was arrested nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for also refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus.