Visual Artists Guild
presents
36th Commemoration Tiananmen Massacre
& Annual Award Dinner
視覺藝術家協會
六四紀念 頒獎活動
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In the spring of 1989, Beijing erupted with the largest spontaneous demonstrations the Peoples’ Republic of China had witnessed in its 40-year history. The pro-democracy movement quickly spread to over 30 cities around China before the world witnessed the horrors of the government’s brutal crackdown. As the Chinese people fled from the tanks and guns, they asked the international press to let the world know the truth. They asked the word not to forget.
Visual Artists Guild is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) all volunteers' organization. Established in 1985, its mission is to champion the right of Freedom of Speech and Expression.
Honoring 表 揚
Freeman Ho 何慧: Chinese Democratic Education Foundation 中國民主教育基金會
Born in Wuhan in 1955, Freeman Ho experienced the Great Famine of the Great Leap Forward disaster and later the social-political disaster of the Cultural Revolution. After arriving in Hong Kong in 1978, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1980. He volunteered for the U.S. based "China Spring" magazine and coordinated with writers in Hong Kong. In 1985, he joined the "Chinese Democratic Education Foundation" which promotes the values of Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights to Chinese society; he became its second President in 1998. Freeman has provided publishing for the book “ Fifty People’s Fifty Years”, a collection of life stories of fifty people who went through China's tumultuous years. Freedman has been a member of our advisory board and provided invaluable support for Visual Artists Guild through the years.
Yufu Zhu 朱虞夫: Poet 詩人
A veteran political activist in China, Zhu Yufu was sentenced for seven years after being accused of “subversion of state power” for writing a poem. The Visual Artists Guild honored Zhu Yufu with the Champion of Freedom of Speech Award in 2013. He was able to come to the United States last year.
“People of China! It’s time. The Square belongs to everyone.
With your own two feet It’s time to head to the Square and make your choice.
It’s time, people of China! It’s time. A song belongs to everyone.
From your own throat It’s time to voice the song in your heart.
It’s time, people of China! It’s time. China belongs to everyone.
Of your own will It’s time to choose what China shall be.
Mr. Zhu has been allowed to come to the U.S. last year.
Yang Zili 楊子立: Webmaster Yangzi Garden of Ideas 羊子的思想家園網站
Yang Zili acquired a Masters Degree in Engineering from Peking University in 1998 and quickly realized the usefulness of the internet. He was influenced by Friedrich Hayek's book "Road to Serfdom" and hosted the website "Yangzi's Garden of Ideas" where he argued for democratic reforms. He wrote, "What I care about are Human Rights, Freedom and Democracy."
He participated in a discussion group on democratic reforms called "New Youth Society". He and the participants were sentenced in 2001 to eight to ten years in jail.
Such a severe sentence for expressing their rights to freedom of speech alarmed Visual Artists Guild and propelled us to file a stockholders resolution in 2002 against Cisco Systems which was a major manufacturer of internet routers. The proposal, as approved by the SEC asked Cisco to examine whether its products are being used to stifle free expression in repressive countries.
Mr. Yang continued his support for social justice after his release from jail and was able to come to the U.S. a few years later.
All White Paper Protesters 白紙運動]
On November 24, 2022, a fire broke out in a residential high-rise apartment building in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China with local authorities reporting that ten people were killed and nine injured although people suspected the actual numbers were higher.
Questions were raised as the tragedy was the result of Beijing's strict enforcement of the Zero- Covid policy which prevented residents from leaving the building or interfered with the efforts of firefighters.
A video of a Chinese student held a blank piece of paper in front of her school went viral.
Subsequently, the "White Paper Movement" broke out across China in protest of such a policy.
Three years into the Chinese government's Zero- Covid policy, Chinese people's daily lives and freedoms have been severely disrupted.
The fire in Urumqi ignited the public's discontent. The people in Shanghai, gathered on Urumqi Middle Road to mourn the victims of the fire, which ultimately turned into a large-scale protest.
The protests became the largest defiance against the Chinese Communist Party since the Tiananmen Pro-Democracy movement of 1989.
