Academic freedom is a fundamental concept that exists to ensure that institutions of higher education function for the public good and that colleges are constructed on the foundations of genuine trust. For over a century, members of The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) have been agile guardians, careful stewards, and erudite experts regarding the principle of academic freedom and its application in the faculty profession. The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges began a deep and sustained conversation on academic freedom. California community colleges are in a period of significant and systemic change. Faculty are engaging with and challenging each other to act in adopting culturally responsive teaching, in eliminating racism in all its forms--interpersonal, institutional, systemic--and in serving the whole student in ways that provide care and support as well as ensure a clear and direct path toward reaching an educational goal. The purpose of this paper is not to be the definitive word on academic freedom in the community college system; rather, it is to begin an exploration of what academic freedom means and how it should be protected and implemented in California's community colleges. This paper strives to lay a foundation to ensure that the principles of academic freedom remain strong and flexible to adapt to the changing dynamics in the California community colleges and in academia.