6/3/2024

My Dear POTUS, JRB,

Today’s missive will be brief. I have spent my contemplative morning moments putting together slides for my acknowledgement of the Tianamen Square Massacre, 六四事件 in 1989. How will you be commemorating the 35th anniversary of that event?

I will show the slides to start class tomorrow. The story supports the theme of civil disobedience, which has been more prevalent this quarter than in past iterations of the course due to the student encampments & unrest around the country. I want all of my students, but especially those who will be returning to mainland China, to know about the profound acts of courage & hope of thousands of Chinese citizens, a history, hidden from them, by their government.

The same acts of courage emerged in Burma in Feb, 2021, when the junta took over. The young folk stood up to their peers in the military in the hopes that the soldiers would refrain from killing someone who looked just like them. Sadly, the results were similar to those in Bejing in 1989, but in Burma the armed struggle continues.

The quest for freedom is universal & will never end. Hope will transcend fear, especially in the hearts of the young.

BYBS,