Black Lives Matter – The Orbital

In the early hours of the 23rd of December 2021, Hong Kong University’s Pillar of Shame statue was removed from the centre of campus. It has stood there at the University of Hong Kong since 1997 and represented the numerous lives lost in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, one of the most delicate topics in Chinese politics. Recently replaced with a new seating area, no remnants of the statue remain onsite. The image of the orange twisted bodies imprinted only in memory. The Tiananmen Square Massacre has largely been erased from history in Mainland China and Hong Kong is now following suit. The Pillar of Shame stood as a symbol of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, highlighting the difference of freedoms between Hong Kong and the Mainland, a gap that is being gradually clos...

“If peaceful protests did nothing, the powerful wouldn't try so hard to silence them.” - NYCLU Last year, NFL player Colin Kaepernick created a worldwide debate about what it means to be patriotic in one simple action: kneeling during the U.S national anthem. Immediately, the public sphere was divided in their opinion of what Kaepernick intended by ‘Taking a knee’. Put simply, Kaepernick intended to do one thing, and one thing only: to draw attention to police brutality and racial inequality in America. However, the subsequent media frenzy painted his actions as anti-American, anti-military, and unpatriotic. But what people seem to forget is that peaceful protests are not a new thing in America’s history. Taking a knee is reminiscent of pivotal moments during America’s civil rig...

Tag: Black Lives Matter

No Longer Standing: The Monumental Message in What Remains

Take A Knee