The Umbrella Revolution

Since the beginning of fall, the streets of Hong Kong have been bustling with student protesters fighting for the right to have a democratic government. Led by a skinny 18 year old with black glasses,  Joshua Wong has "whipped up crowds with fiery speeches" into action against the current communist ruling party. The protests began in September when Mr. Wong rounded up two hundred Hong Kong students and blocked the entrance to a government building, unhappy with the lack of a democratic process promised to the people of Hong Kong. Police countered with force, blinding people with tear gas and pepper spray, and arresting Mr. Wong and his fellow rebels. This had the opposite affect it intended to have. Word spread on social media and thousands more joined the movement. Since then, many have been beaten ruthlessly by police officials, as well as the Chinese Mafia working for the government.  "To shield themselves from the pepper spray, they've use umbrellas, which have given  the movement a symbol and a name: The Umbrella Revolution."

To understand the Umbrella Revolution, it helps to understand Hong Kong's history. In 1842, China lost Hong Kong to Great Britain in the First Opium War. The small colony eventually experienced democracy for the first time under British rule. However, in 1997, due to the Treaty of Nanking, the British government handed Hong Kong back to communist China, depriving them of democracy, and other rights. The "One Country Two Systems" treaty signed in 1984 was a promise that Hong Kong for the next fifty years would have freedom of speech and other basic rights that the mainland does not have. Still this worried many Hong Kong citizens. They knew they would be deprived of their rights. And they were, the Umbrella Revolution is the fight for what was theirs and should be today.

History repeats itself. In 1989, the Tiananmen Square protests ended in gruesome cold blood. Police officials were unsuccessful in breaking up a peaceful protest, the government brought in the Army and murdered, arrested, or disposed of hundreds possibly thousands of innocent citizens. One of which was 'Tank Man', an unidentified person that stood his ground in front of a convoy of tanks issued to destroy those that protested. Amazingly, China's inter web bans this sort of information that may make them look bad in their need to protect their communist power. This filter and censorship of these facts have been effective, barely anyone in the mainland knows about Tiananmen Square, and Tank Man and what happened that horrible day. This lack of freedom to know a people's own history is not acceptable, and Joshua Wong and his raging followers are fighting to end secrecy and earn democratic freedom for Hong Kong.

Nobody knows what will happen in the near future to Hong Kong, these courageous protesting students, China, or even my mother's home country, Taiwan. China claims Taiwan is theirs, however, Taiwan has their own president, language, culture, currency, democracy and has never been under communist rule. Based off what they are seeing in Hong Kong, Taiwan is getting nervous as well. As China gains power, and cracks down on human rights, brave people of Hong Kong and their Umbrella Revolution must stand up and fight for their freedom.

The Museum of the City of New York

During last week's class trip to the Museum of the City of New York, class 811 visited the Activism Exhibit. We learned about the history of activism in New York City, as well as many ways to act against a cause. There were many examples of people standing against authority or the wrong doings of others. Some were fairly new protests with recent impacts on the city, and others old. I myself, learned many new facts, some on topics that I had prior knowledge of,  and some topics that were totally new to me. I found the exhibit interesting and intriguing.

What I found to be the most interesting was how protests first started four-hundred years ago when New York was New Amsterdam. As a Dutch Colony,  only Christianity was allowed to be practiced in public. People, such as the Quakers, were not allowed to openly express their religion. The city's citizens didn't agree with Peter Stuyvesant and the government and this regulation. Why was the government treating respectful law abiding people who were not hurting anyone so disrespectfully?  As a result of this mistreatment, thirty one non-Quaker citizens signed a petition arguing and questioning the law and  its effects. Through this, the first protesting activists in New York arose. A more recent intriguing fact I learned of was the Stonewall Riots on June 28, 1969. Being gay was not allowed and homosexuals were discriminated against and were labeled as wusses for never having the guts to fight back against the bigoted society. For years, even being in the Stonewall Bar (a gay bar) was punishable by jail time. However, on this night, June 28, 1969, they did fight back. They were joined in this battle with many other activist groups such as the Black Panthers who had their own battles against police brutality just  as the  gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transvestite community did. This was the beginning of gay rights and equality.

I enjoyed the visit to the Museum of the City of New York. It was interesting to learn more about the history of our diverse city. Without this history of activism we would be living in more blind, scary, and unjust times. These activists were right for what they did, they were brave and our city is safer and more complete because of them.

Amir's Path to Redemption

Friendships ruined by lies and cowardice, Amir, the protagonist in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner struggles with his dishonest past. His life resembles the war zone of his Afghan childhood, where relationships and culture are violently ruined. It is not until late in the book when Amir gets a chance to redeem himself by saving the son of Hassan, his childhood friend.

Amir and Hassan grow up together as great buddies, spending all their free times together. Amir is Pashtun, and Hassan is Hazara. As the son of a rich Pashtun business man Amir is high in the social hierarchy. Hazaras are slaves, own nothing and make no money and have very few rights, and this is Hassan's place in society. Amir lives in the richest part of his neighborhood, gets what he wants, except his fathers approval as a worthy son. Thus he is a bit insecure. Hassan is comfortable with who he is, humble, obedient, and knows his place.

This wonderful friendship of these two kids of such different backgrounds shrivels and dies during the Kite Fighting Competition. As Amir's trusty Kite Runner, Hassan runs after the kite to secure a victory. Unfortunately, Hassan runs into the big, bad, Assef, the stories antagonist. He is a Pashtun German  psychopath who carries brass knuckles and speaks admiringly of Hitler. Assef brutally assaults Hassan, physically and sexually. " He kept one hand on Hassan's back and undid his own belt buckle with his free hand. He unzipped his jeans. dropped his under wear." ... " Hassan didn't struggle." Amir watched all of it go down in vain and never did anything to disrupt it, or go to authorities to report it aftrwords. He never even told Hassan that he saw it either. His behavior is cowardly and he knows it. "In the end I ran. I ran becauseI was a coward. I was scared of Assef". He cannot live with the guilt of not defending his friend and schemes to have Hassan removed from his home so as not to see him, or have to deal with the awful episode any more. His father gave him money and a watch, and the first thing Amir did with it was hide it under Hassan's bed to frame him and accuse him of stealing. Hassan's reaction to this was true to his status as a Hazara, he just accepted the accusations and his fate.

Amir  continues to live with this guilt into adulthood, while Hassan's life is cut short, murdered by Assef who becomes a general in the Taliban Government. While the two friends were never to meet again, Amir receives the chance to avenge his friend, save a life, and put his conscience at ease. In order to do this, he must go back to Afghanistan and face Assef, who not only killed Hassan and his wife, but has also imprisoned and raped Hassan's son, Sohrab.  Finally an opportunity to do what is right, not be a coward and give up like he did all those years back. Amir is successful during a final battle in saving Hassan's son, though he nearly dies of a ruptured stomach and spleen and lungs, broken ribs, and many more sever injuries caused by Assef's brass knuckles, which he still carried with him.

The Kite Runner is a bitter sweet ending. Although Amir does recover Sohrab from Assef and the Taliban, and leaves Assef behind defeated, he can never bring his friend back. Amir's life is no longer a hell hole seeking a way to happiness and making things right. Now, he has found inner peace with himself kite fighting with Sohrab as he did with Hassan decades ago. From Amir to Hassan for all those years apart and finally finding each other again in a different form. He'd do anything for Sohrab, "For you, a thousand times over."