PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
What: Umbrella Movement at Doo-Dah Parade by the Great
Firewall of China Marching Brigade of Visual Artists Guild
Why: To bring attention to Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement
in the people's demand to have the
Universal Right to Vote and to Stand for Election
Date: Saturday, November 15, 2014
Time: Parade starts at 11:00 a.m.
Where: East Colorado and Vinedo, Pasadena, California
Contact: Visual Artists Guild, Ann Lau 310-433-0697
Background information:
Hong Kong, a British colony, was returned to China in
1997 under the Sino-British Joint Declaration with the condition
that Hong Kong would be able to maintain its state of autonomy
for 50 years.
In 2007, the Beijing government agreed that there
will be universal suffrage allowing all of the Hong Kong
citizens to elect their chief executive by the year 2017;
however this August, Beijing announced that candidates for Hong
Kong chief executive must be first nominated by a committee of
1200 appointed people and have to be approved by Beijing.
The people in Hong Kong call it Fake Universal
Suffrage, and felt that they have been betrayed. In late
September, students started their protest. When Hong Kong's
police began using tear gas and pepper spray against the
peaceful demonstrators, it galvanized the people of Hong Kong to
join the protest.
In more than 7 weeks of protests, no one car has
been overturned and no one store window has been broken. Dubbed
the most civil of civil disobedience, protesters used umbrellas
to shield themselves; thus the “Umbrella Movement” is born.
#umbrellamovement