Perspective on Tibet Activism

Inspired by Dr. Clayborne Caron’s Gandhi/King community and one of my favorite class, “The Modern Tradition of Nonviolent Resistance,” I created this site because I saw the need for there to be the voice of students, especially Tibetan youth interested in any form of activism to be amplified. Often times, our voices are gone unheard yet it is us that will uplift our community and change the trajectory of our movement. This is a site for us to learn about our history, and more importantly, empower ourselves.

As MLK once said, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Holding onto his conviction, I would once again like to amplify that message for my Tibetan peers, this time in current history is crucial to us as individuals and us as people. Our struggle is dependent upon our awareness, knowledge, and participation. Hence, it’s important that we not only learn about our distinct heritage and history, but think about strategies of how to move forth. Included in this site are tactics that many Tibetan supports, who are primarily youth have used to target human right abuses.

Linking the content of this site and the larger Tibetan movement to notions of traditional nonviolent resistance is also an important piece. In the (Initiative) section, I have selected few nonviolent protests that are extremely strategic and contrast that of are Gandhi/King’s resistance tactics. Just by the virtue of technology, nonviolent resistance is now taking place online. Internet is now the ideal place to fight for human rights abuses and against injustices in the world, the 21st century is where battle takes place in cyber space instead of geopolitical space.

However, the Tibetan movement’s nonviolent resistance overall is still relevant of older notions of nonviolent resistance that started during Gandhi and King’s years. For example, the foundation of the movement starts with a leader, and for Tibetans, it is undoubtedly, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. He is our Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He holds the pinnacle of our hopes and desire for Tibet, and is the uniting force behind most Tibetans.

Yet in many instances, nonviolent resistance is still as revolutionary and visionary as it was during Gandhi/King’s years. The Tibetan movement still needs the base of the people that Gandhi and King recruited to believe in their oppression and more importantly, to believe in their power to change it. If it was not for leaders such as Gandhi and King, Tibet would not have the power, conviction, and complete faith in maintaining that nonviolence is the only way!

Table of Contents: