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