Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. King, a social justice leader and head of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ‘60s, left behind an important legacy for this country and brought about significant racial progress for African-Americans. While he mainly fought for change and equality in the South, he also spent some time in Boston, earning a master’s degree in the School of Theology at Boston University — where he met fellow student and future wife Coretta Scott.

As an aspiring journalist, free speech is one of the most important pieces of our Constitution to me. It defines my entire future career, and protects the right to democracy in this country. There is,...