The Day After the 20th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, which occurred exactly 20 years ago in China when student-led protesters were crushed by the military. According to eyewitness accounts, Tiananmen Square was quiet and uneventful all of yesterday--save for the noticeable presence of military guards and police officers patrolling the area, who outnumbered regular civilians by 2 to 1. In contrast, 150,000 people gathered at Victoria Park in Hong Kong for a candlelight vigil. Citizens of all ages gathered together that night to commemorate the memories of the young students and citizens who shed their blood on that fateful day on June 4, 1989. A stone memorial in the center of the civil was marked with the words: "The martyrs of democracy live forever in the hearts of the people." Why is it so important for all of us--as global citizens--to remember what happened on June 4 in Tiananmen Square? Though I was too young to remember the event when it actually happened, the aftereffects of the event still reverberate in our present times. Books, movies and internet sites mentioning the Tiananmen Square Massacre--only referred to as "the June 4 incident"--are still banned in mainland China. Internet surveillance of Google searches, Facebook and Twitter increased in the days leading up to the anniversary. Political prisoners--many of them we don't know about--are still carrying sentences for their connections to the events surrounding the crackdown. Though the event occured two decades ago, its legacy still has the power to make government officials paranoid, uncomfortable and overly protective of their authority. The rest of us would laugh at their absurd behavior if the implications weren't so terrifying. Why would they behave in this manner if they truly don't have anything to hide? This is the revenge of the ghosts of the Massacre. It reveals the innate buffoonery of censorship. And this is the responsibility for the rest of us, still breathing in the shadow of what occurred on June 4, 1989. We must continue to make the agents of oppression squirm. Reveal them, as much as we can, for the heartless fools such people are. The more they squirm, the stronger we all become in our human goodness. ** Here are several noteworthy organizations that are dedicated to human rights and universal freedom: * Amnesty International * Human Rights Watch * Voice of Witness Whatever you are doing right now for worldwide peace, do more of it. I will also pledge to live my own advice.