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Source: Widener, Jeff Associated Press
A story I tell many of my students is about the impact of the 1989 Tienanmen Square uprising in China on me when I was 11 years old. This was the uprising in China led by unarmed college students that was trying to gain more political and economic freedoms in China. It was viciously put down by the authoritarian Chinese government and was made famous around the world with the image of the “Tank Man” (image to the left). As a child back in the United States I watched this on the nightly news and it was the moment where I became more interested to understand why people were willing to give up their lives to gain certain rights. It was also the event that got me interested in understanding the world and the history behind it. I feel like this event led me to be a social studies teacher, to help students connect with the world around them and the history that came before.
The above left clip is from the original broadcast of the "Tank Man" on CNN. The above right clip is a TEDx talk by a Tienanmen Square survivor and its impact on him and China.
"My hope is that the Chinese government will come to realise that it is futile to repress free speech, and that contrary to what they believe a regime's strength rests not its suppression of a plurality of opinions and ideas, but in its capacity and willingness to encourage them."
"My hope is that the Chinese government will come to realise that it is futile to repress free speech, and that contrary to what they believe a regime's strength rests not its suppression of a plurality of opinions and ideas, but in its capacity and willingness to encourage them."
- Ma Jian, Chinese author
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