A Show of Solidarity with Freedom Fighters Everywhere

This post was inspired by a conversation I had with Sepiru Chris last week on his blog e-Cuneiform scratchings (http://e-cuneiform.blogspot.com). I told him that we all need to stand in solidarity to push back against the bullies and oppressors of the world. I applauded him for showing support for the memory of those who died at Tiananmen Square, even though his post came several days after June 4. Today I dedicate my post to the freedom fighters in Iran who are risking life and limb to demand fair elections and freedoms in their country. I cannot do more than post this in support of them, but I offer this poem by Chinese dissident poet Jiang Pinchao to show that sometimes the smallest of gestures means much to a suffering freedom fighter.

In his speech to students at Cal State Long Beach on April 13, 2009, Jiang Pianchao described his arrest and incarceration for taking part in the June Fourth student protests in China in 1989. Like most of the students, Jiang was sent back to his school to wait for the results of the government’s investigations. Many of the students did not believe that their government would retaliate against them with such cruel measures until after they were arrested, interrogated under torture, and imprisoned. Jiang was encouraged through his sufferings by his memories of a small gesture: a handshake from one of his teachers just prior to his arrest. The other speaker at CSULB that day, Bob Fu of China Aid Association was not so lucky. His blood-sworn brothers, who had demonstrated with him at Tiananmen, sold him out and placed all the blame squarely on him to save their own skins. The disillusionment that he felt from being sold out by his friends almost caused him to take his own life. These examples show that in the heat of the battle against injustice the smallest gesture of support can strengthen the combatants to stand firm to the bitter end.

Handshake

By Jiang Pinchao
Translated by Teresa Zimmerman-Liu
Edited by Brian E. Hansen
Published in June Fourth Tiananmen Massacre Twentieth Anniversary Memorial Booklet

In the tree-breaking storm
you cared for the flowers
among the thistles in my path.
You did not avoid the thorns but
threw petals before me.
In my difficulties
I was lonely,
I needed understanding and support.
Your handshake
gave me what I lacked.
We did not speak at our solemn parting but
your eyes brimmed with pity, love, sorrow.

High walls, electric fences, guard towers,
blocked the desolate road ahead,
machine guns aimed at my thoughts, but
I know my responsibility.
When I am lost
I will remember your eyes.
When I feel lazy,
I will recall your hand’s touch.
Friendless,
I will remember.
Suffering,
I will rejoice.
Lonely,
I will ponder.
Terrified,
I will fight.

In this desolate wilderness
when life gave me a bitter drink
you allowed me to taste sweetness.
On this precipitous mountain road
where some would cut off my freedom
you whispered, “They are evil.”
On a freezing winter night
when history would lock me in a cold prison
you gave me a flame for warmth.

At the end of my life
I will have a rich harvest.
On this glorious journey
history will see a new dawn.
My fatherland will see
a day of democracy, a day of freedom,
a day of prosperity, and
I know this new day
will come because of you
because of your handshake.
As a zealous patriot for my fatherland
I etch your name
into the corner of our memorial.

March 23, 1990, Hanyang, China