This post is a response to new Huffington Post blogger Harold Parmington III's Western Activism Won't Help Tibet. I have spent eight years working in the Tibetan independence movement and have blogged extensively about what has been happening in Tibet since March 10th. That said, I would like to share a response from a friend who has been involved in the Tibetan independence movement far longer than I have and whose analysis of the situation I have always respected deeply.
I am not sure exactly what makes Harold Parmington an expert on the effects that Western activism will or won't have on the Chinese government, but as producer of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, former Chair of the Board of Students for a Free Tibet, and a Tibet activist for over 20 years, I have a few thoughts on the subject.
First, his assertion that activists have not effected China is dead wrong. The Tibet movement's actions over the last 20 years have directly resulted in political prisoner releases, they have stayed executions, and they have caused world governments to support an issue that they would not have paid attention to otherwise. This week, protests have exposed the Beijing government for exactly what it is and, in the Speaker of the House's words: 'challenged the conscience of the world.'
What Parmington doesn't fully grasp is that Tibetans inside Tibet have always and will always resist Chinese rule. Those who resist have always and will always appeal for our help. And those of us who support them have always and will always do whatever we can to help. The Tibet movement is a reality, the Tibetan people's desire for independence is not going away, and the burden -- as it is in all nations who hold occupied territory -- is on China to deal with it. There is absolutely no need or political advantage to "working within China's framework."
Parmington has joined a very small chorus of voices whose primary point (and I use the term lightly) seems to be: 'Don't bother, you're wasting your time.' History is full of these detractors and their collective ennui -- they're the same ones who told Gandhi there was no way a single man could overthrow the worlds biggest empire. They're the ones who urged 'diplomacy' with Apartheid and told Dr. King to quiet down. Well, Mr. Parmington, I'd urge you to read up on your history. Protests do work, despotic empires -- yes, even really big ones -- are toppled, and those who say 'don't bother' generally get left behind as activists shape the course of history.
Josh Schrei
Producer, Tibetan Freedom Concerts
Former Chair, Students for a Free Tibet
I would simply add that we are facing a moment where what is needed is more activism, not less; a greater sense of how to promote human rights, not a diminished drive to improve the world; and a louder call from people like Mr. Parmington III who enjoy the freedoms of thought, press, assembly, and petition that Tibetans lack, for those same rights to be realized inside Tibet and China. Only in this way can we change the world. As Frederick Douglass said, "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." Surely Mr. Parmington III would recognize that those words are just as true today as they were in 1857.