Some of todays sights and conversations will never leave me; standing with flags held high, a young guys stereo pouring out a Tibetan lament as rank upon rank of police gather to protect the flame, a middle aged women in a suit scrambling over the barrier as passion engulfed her, teenagers, grey haired guys and my husband running for miles alongside the flame on the Stratford leg calling Shame, Shame, Shame. For me 'shame' summed up today, and not just because it rhymes so nicely with 'flame'. Shame on the Chinese government for oppressing their people and the people of other nations, shame on Brown for turning a blind eye, shame on the International Olympic Committee for not holding China to account and Shame on the Olympics Association in the UK for gagging our athletes.
Yet still, today I felt a renewed faith in human kind as we raised our voices together to scream ourselves hoarse in the name of justice.
Interesting things that don;t exactly fit anywhere in this post:
- A BBC article on the origins of the flame- Hitlers desire for a symbol of unity.
- Excerpts from the Olympic Charter Articles one and two:"Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on... respect for universal fundamental ethical principles." "The goal of Olympism is ... promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."
- Info on China's role in Sudan, Chinas domestic human rights record
- An overview of the day by Angry Chinese blogger
- A clarification: Anti- China protests? No, mate. China has some great stuff going on, first climate neutral city, great basic public education and health services, and Chinese people are for the most part I imagine, although I only know a small number, wonderful. This was an Anti-Human Rights Abuse protest and nothing else.
Our SHAME sign (blood splatted A)
Thousands gather to meet the flame at the 02
The last leg: the protection was 4 people deep.
2 comments:
nice one Lucy.
I support your support of those protesting against the people supporting the thing in the country that is supporting governments that are doing dumb stuff, and is doing some dumb stuff itself. If the flame came to Cork......
Hope things are well with you and your buddy Tim. My Buddie Amanda is good and we are having fun in cork. We want to come visit, but money doesnt grow like our veges are.
Ashamed to be British, really? The Olympic Commitees gagging of the athletes so that they could not use the Olympics as a platform to speak out made me ashamed to be British. Hmmm and I'm not sure you would have counted me as well behaved either. The fact is that it was basically the people that broke the barricades that made the media and got any of the issues air time at all.
The protests have resulted in bringing some shame on Chinese government- exactly what was intended. I am just not convinced that standing on the sidelines and watching the flame go by would have done that.
The Kiwi protest of South African rugby tour was only successful because they broke through the boundaries and performed a sit- in on the playing field, preventing some of the athletes from their right to play rugby, but also telling the Apartheid regime that the world is watching and won't co-operate. It is a pity that the athletes suffer for it may be, but I imagine it is probably a price worth paying?
Hmm, just a couple of my thoughts anyway. Hope you are well!
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