Our Work:
Campaigns
Short Film: Urumqi Massacre
We produced a short film commemorating the Urumqi Massacre and released it on the tragic event’s 15th anniversary. The film is based on the testimony of Zumretay Arkin, who witnessed this brutal crackdown while visiting her grandmother in Urumqi at 16 years old, and performed by youth activist Ankar Uyghur.
Tiananmen: Restoring Our Collective Memory
On this 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, we released our interactive digital commemoration, “Tiananmen: Restoring Our Collective Memories.” Over the course of two months, we researched instances of support and commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy movement within our campuses, communities, and cities. By reenacting these scenes from 1989, we pay tribute to the protesters who sacrificed their lives 35 years ago in China. We also honor our various communities’ collective guardianship of this memory and our steadfast commitment to democratic values over the past 35 years.
Protest and Disruption of Xie Feng’s Address at Harvard
Alongside Students for a Free Tibet, we organized a protest against Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng’s address at the Harvard Kennedy School on April 20th, 2024. In addition to hosting a mass protest outside of the event venue and staging a political theatre of China’s colonial boarding schools in Tibet, we organized a group of six Harvard students and youth activists to disrupt his speech by repeatedly speaking out about China’s human rights abuses and aggressions in Tibet, Hong Kong, East Turkestan, and Taiwan. Coalition Co-Directors and Harvard students Cosette and Tseyang held banners that read “China Lies, People Die,” sending a clear message that Xie Feng was not welcome on campus.
#Remembering 228
In light of the 77th anniversary of the 228 Massacre, we launched a campaign to commemorate the victims and recognize the massacre’s impact in shaping Taiwan’s current democracy. More than 40 Taiwanese and cross-movement allies joined us in this campaign, which related the 228 Massacre and White Terror period to the broader issue of government violence and political repression.
Article 23 Protests
Fast-tracked through Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) in just 11 days, Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 passed by a unanimous, 89-0 vote. In response to the enactment of this this draconic and oppressive security law, Coalition students organized protests at Harvard, Bryn Mawr, Tufts, and more. In addition to handing out explanatory fliers, Coalition members encourage fellow students to urge their Congresspeople to respond to Article 23.
Portraits of Freedom
During Women’s History Month, Portraits of Freedom: The Womxn Driving our Freedom Movements shed warranted light on stories of womxn’s dignity, humanity and resilience in times of profound difficulty and danger. This photo exhibition celebrated the womxn who have played pivotal roles in the Tibetan, Uyghur, Hong Konger, Taiwanese, and Chinese freedom movements as academics, survivors, government officials, lawyers, movement leaders, and more. On display from 3/25-4/1, Portraits of Freedom uplifted the truth and lived experiences of these womxn in our movements and histories.