They came from all sections of society. Some were musicians, others politicians and some others were just commuters on a bus. From a cellist in Bosnia to an Atlanta preacher via a Vietnamese monk, we select protests which have shaped the public imagination…
‘The way they are treating my people in the South’, said Louis Armstrong,’ the government can go to hell.’ The virtuoso trumpeter was asked to go to the Soviet Union as a goodwill ambassador, representing the United States in an effort to showcase the truly American art form. Infuriated at the thought of being the flag bearer of a country which did not treat his people as equal citizens, (the events at Little Rock did not impress him too much, especially President Eisenhower’s apathy) smiling Satchmo refused to go. He then continued to do what he did so marvelously-bring joy to millions worldwide.
It is one of the most brilliant expressions of discontent. In a stinging rebuke of the idea that present time was not right for civil transformation, Dr King drew on his theological education and corroborated his arguments with astute political thought. ’Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will’, he said in perhaps the most important defense of nonviolent demonstration- a landmark achievement in the civil rights movement for equality and justice.
Its rather impossible to explain courage, but we know it when we see. Because if a man does not take antiretroviral injections until four million of his fellow South Africans have access to the same, it exemplifies the moral rectitude of the man. And no, we are not talking about some common cold here. Zackie Achmat, the HIV positive campaigner is said to have said about his actions:”I don’t think it’s noble, I think it’s dumb. But it’s a conscience issue. It’s not something I advocate for anyone else.” But the man is no novice at protest. At the tender age of fourteen, he tried to set his Soweto school on fire in opposition to the Apartheid government. Zackie Achmat proved that protests do not have to belong to everybody. Sometimes, a few is enough.
Yes, they blast it out from the chai shops in Kathmandu. Yuppies in Rhode Island and Maine can sing it verbatim and it is requested at karaoke bars in Tokyo and Nagoya, but its the universal appeal of the song-a rallying cry for all those beleaguered souls to shake off that slumber and take action against injustice that has stirred the souls of people worldwide. What was most remarkable about the dreadlocked reggae artist from Jamaica was the emotions he could engender in the hearts and minds of people by just being himself. The words were simple, but the meaning attached was as profound as ever-an antidote for pain as he later called it. Years later, Amnesty International declared it as their battle cry and it plays in the heads of students in Tehran and Beijing, sans the Jamaican twang, of course.
Before Dr King there was Gandhi and before Gandhi was Henry Thoreau. ”I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave’s government also”, he said in his defense for refusing to pay poll tax. And thus in Concord, Massachusetts a tool was invented which was to deliver independence to India and Pakistan, break down segregation in the United States and dismantle apartheid in South Africa. Thoreau gave voice to the idea of non conformity-the idea that every moral being by nature does not belong to a party, and thus had the power to rebel- and most importantly, on his or her own terms.
In the midst of the siege on his beloved Sarajevo, Vedran Smailovic played his cello for 22 days-one day for each person killed when they waited for bread. The picture of this 36 year old cellist- dressed in garb suitable for a night out at the opera in the midst of rubble is as poignant as they come. No, it didn’t change the outcome of the war- Serb snipers ravaged Sarajevo incessantly for days before a ceasefire was established-but his emotional defiance was a tribute to all those nameless souls who suffer endlessly but always with dignity.
He walked for 240 miles, never wavering in the quest. Crowds followed the ‘half naked fakir’ -it was worth it if he could somehow conjure up the independence they deserved. ‘I want world sympathy in this battle of Right against Might’, he declared to the New York Times on his way to the coast. He arrived on April 5th, 1930 at that now hallowed site of Dandi in his home state of Gujarat, raised a lump of salty mud and said, “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.” Seventeen years later, the edifice came crashing down.
How far can one go to take a stand? Apparently, far enough to the point of self-immolation. In protest against the persecution of Buddhists by the Ngô Đình Diệm government, Thích Quảng Đức immolated himself in the presence of his fellow practitioners. “I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think… As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him”, wrote David Halberstam, on witnessing the event. JFK called it the most important news picture in history. And to think it was through the sacrifice of a simple Buddhist monk…
The year was 1955. Tired of giving in, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks refused to budge from her seat when asked to give it up for a white passenger on a winters day in Montgomery, Alabama. From that moment on, she was thrust into the spotlight as an example of courage and dignity and became the “Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement.” Decorated several times during her life for the moral integrity she showed on that December day, Rosa Parks rose from simple civil servant in the NAACP to personify the ideal that all men are created equal. We are told to stand up for for our rights-the pint sized black woman did exactly that, albeit by sitting down.
Nameless and faceless he emerged from obscurity, a single soul against the might of the Peoples Republic of China while its leaders were reviewing the crisis in the Great Hall. It is in the midst of protest that he showed the world the power of one as he maneuvered his body with the tanks and picked up an altercation with the soldier. Its the most enduring image of protest of our times-raw effrontery in the face of tyranny-a single man whose courage lasted five minutes more. Some say he came in from the villages. Others said he was a Beijing resident. It didn’t matter. He will be forever remembered as the ‘Tank man.’
I saw #3 on the cover album of some band..can't remember which..
Rage Against the Machine’s self titled first album.
wow. didn’t know about quite a few of them. awesome list about some amazing people.
I have seen that before, the monk immolating himself…dunno.. on this site probably
but hey! great list
And Dash,please show up today.
Your lists are there always but you aren’t.
[deleted]
#3 – Rage Against the Machine.
Btw. I am tank man.
There was this Rajiv Goswami of India who attempted self-immolation against Prime Minister V.P. Singh’s implementation of the Mandal Commission laws for Affirmative Action (reservation) recommendations. It was a very significant protest for all those believing in ‘equality for all’.
wow……
great list butt
bobmarley had dread locks
not dead locks
@ The boy from troy. #3 was the cover of Rage Against the Machine’s first album
@Josh (5):
sigh,
Great list, but it’s a shame that many protestors that have given their lives for their causes without using violence isn’t mentioned in the list. They are the highest shape of human form.
Really enjoyable list, good to see one about heroes. Of course, I have to wonder: Jesus?
Notable Omission :
Journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi throws his shoes at George W Bush
Cheers!
Honestly I am not so sure Rosa Parks should be so high up on this list. Her action was small and she was not really an amazing activist in any way. The Tank Man was a real hero but Rosa Parks was an over rated figure head.
We reveal our ignorance and pettiness each in our own way. Thanks, Avi, for revealing yours.
Excellent list. Of courses, there’s always room for mature debate, room for more entries, room for interpretation. Each list must be a bit subjective; it’s unavoidable. This listwriter has made a sincere effort to span the globe and cite a variety of inspirational sources true to the list’s thesis. Very good work!
‘deadlocked’ or ‘dreadlocked’ ?
Henry Thoreau (6) refusing to shave his neck beard despite public ridicule was one of the great protests and helped the cause of beardism profoundly
Great list, it does the heart good to see that even in the face of overwhelming odds, some exceptional people will stand their ground.
I’d like to think that there’s a bit of that spirit in us all.
Love this list, especially number one. The picture is heartbreaking.
Parks was the Genesis and a participant in the great Montgomery Bus Boycott. A massive grass roots campaign formed and perfect strangers showed up at bus stops and filled their cars and took people to work, etc. In that context she is aptly placed. Also the man who self immolated himself just outside Robert Mcnamara’s window at The Pentagon protesting the Vietnam war is another example of stunning protest. I assure the world that while some of we Americans seem war-hungry and, well, Republican, well over half of our populace hates war. Huddled masses yearning…
Thích Quảng Đức and tank man are 2 pictures that will never loose the impact the first time you look at them.
superb, its a good uplifting feeling to know that there are extrodinary people out there.
Merry Christmas All
bob marley is a scene kid.
enjoyed reading, though the hyphens really confused me in some places. i may just be an illiterate fool though.
rosa parks has nothing on any of these people.. gosh. the monk should be no.1 this list is intended to rank the most significant ones.
hair raising list…
@ Pete – Jesus? Because everyone has seen him…! lol!
Good list, thoroughly enjoyed that
brilliant list, I like it a lot
Rosa was not a protester as much as a figure for protesters to rally around and emulate. She was not a radical, but gave the radicals a “mother” so to speak. She was just tired- and tired of relenting to the oppression.
Whether she deserves such a high place on this list- if this list is indeed relative to importance- is speculative. In the U.S., I would say yes. Globally, I would probably place her in a different spot. But I sure as hell would give up my bus seat to her out of respect.
I couldn`t agree more with El the erf. “The Shoe Man,” will forever be remembered!
Great list. I took a History class called Rebels and Renegades a few years ago, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I love learning about people who were/are able to make a difference, though it sometimes makes me feel like I need to be doing more as well.
Anyway, excellent choices. There are so many candidates for a list like this, it must have been hard to narrow it down to just ten. Kudos, to you.
No Jan Palach?! I think there should have been a place for him here, also a victim of self-immolation during the protests in Prague against the Soviet ‘intervention’ in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Otherwise, I think it’s a good list.
I agree with some of the other comments, I think that number 2 and 3 should be swapped round. One lit himself on fire and the other refused to stand up. Even if what she was protesting was more well known and recognised, Thich Quang Duc (sorry I know that’s not right) sacrificed himself in the most awful way imaginable. Just a thought.
Agreed with @Avi and @donald heng about Rosa Parks. She wasn’t even particularly unusual – people got arrested for the same crime pretty often, and the only thing different here was that she was secretary of the local chapter of NAACP. Even the accepted story of her just being a lady who was too tired to move after a long day of work or whatever is a myth. The whole thing was planned. I’d say Irene Morgan, Sarah Keys and Claudette Colvin (three women who spontaneously did the same thing in years prior but for one reason or another didn’t launch a famous boycott) probably deserve a spot ahead of Rosa.
The list is a little USA-centric as well, but hey. Rosa’s the only one who really doesn’t belong in my opinion. Muhammad Ali would be a better pick for refusing to go to Vietnam and more-or-less foregoing the peak of his boxing career to do so.
great list. i’d heard of many of these before, but when you see it all written like this, it really brings it home what all these people did. And many others I would presume. Well done Dash, excellent list. Nice way to start the day.
Number 1 deserves it’s place.
that picture is the most displayed image during the Tiananmen incident memorial, which is actually illegal in China but luckily legal in Hong Kong
a grand list
those are very powerful images.
“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” Ralph Waldo Emerson. Dash may be alluding to that quotation in his paragraph for list item no 1.
While I was searching for that quotation, I also found: “Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let no one lust for martyrdom.” Mohandas Gandhi
and
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela
I would add Luz Long at the 1936 Olympics. He had zero effect on subsequent history, but showed that two individuals can join in friendship despite anything their political masters tell them they should or shouldn’t do.
I’ve been on this site over a year and I very rarely comment but I really liked this list. Way better then that animated couples thing a week ago, someone hand me the barf bag! Great Job!
Go the tank man!
Not to forget the ever-vigilant, unknown photographer.
A half of a second is not exactly much time to make out the correct composition and the proper balance required to evoke a reaction awash with emotions.
…
Zackie Achmat seems an inspiring character.
Now I am repenting why I didn’t set afire my school.
Sheesh… All the time that I endured child labor.
This list and the video of Another Brick In The Wall came a tad too late in my life.
Oh well
Nice list. Knew before I got here that the Tank man would be no. 1 but I was also expecting to see Ali there somewhere too.
Definitely not disappointed though.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail is not a protest. It’s a call for civil disobedience. Completely different concept within political theory.
Jesus? This list is compiled of real people that lived and made great sacrifices that cost some of them their lives. The list is not put together using make believe characters. Come on people use some common sense or atleast logic. Jesus? Ignorance- another unfortunate side effect of hunger. Some one needs a Snickers
@Ryan (32): well a lot of men stood in front of tanks but they got runned over, a lot of men resorted to self-immolation(which personally i think is stupid) but these people didnt make the list. You cant put them all but they are all heroes so thats why ros parks is a hero too. I really dont think parks did it become a “star” so why shouldnt she be like all the other names you mentioned.
Ps:1) a notable mention should be given to the tank driver(is that how one should call it) who decided not to run over that guy.
2)this would have made a great christmas list. Very uplifting
Flat out best list in a while, and @dark: Jesus was a real person whether he was God or not is another argument, one you can feel free to make. But Jesus as a human being still single handedly protested against the persecution of Jews by the Roman Empire and was still thrown under the bus by his own people. Read a history book before you talk about ignorance.
@dark: Jesus was a real person whether he was God or not is another argument, one you can feel free to make. But Jesus as a human being still single handedly protested against the persecution of Jews by the Roman Empire and was still thrown under the bus by his own people. Read a history book before you talk about ignorance.
not sure how Bob Marley belongs on there with the rest of them. Its not like he sang the song in a place that would get him shot.
Bobby Sands should be on the list, far more than Marley and I’m sure that there are many others who do as well. Marley was a fine musician and a voice for the down trodden, especially of Jamaica, but he never really sacrificed anything in the way that the others on the list did.
This is an amazing list. It is so inspiring to see what human beings are capable of when it comes to justice. And there are many more of these people, whose impact is probably smaller, but who risk their lives for others.
@El the erf (39): hello el,
nolod1207: it is debatable whether Jesus was a real person. A lot of historians believe that Jesus was an amalgam of many teachers, rabbis, prophets and political dissidents of the time
There should be an honourary mention of Brian Haw, who have camped out in Parliament Square, London for peace causes since June 2001:–
http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/
I was in college when the Tianammen Square protests occurred and I remember there was a Chinese exchange student who was completely devastated when he saw footage of it not only because of what happened but because the Chinese people were led to believe that there was a violent revolt that had to be put down. If memory serves he was in the US when it happened but had received letters from home talking about it and he wanted to tell his family the truth
Awesome list, Dash!
Loved all of your choices. To me, Louis Armstrong, Thích Quảng Đức and Rosa Parks stood out the most.
However, I remember the tank incident. I watched it on the news and to this day still find his act of courage to be nothing short of amazing.
Extremely powerful list. I have the Tank Man as my desktop wallpaper. It doesn’t get any gutsier than standing in front of a column of tanks with nothing but two bags of groceries.
Of course, setting oneself ablaze is powerful as well. What has always bothered me the most about so many of these protests is how deaf of an ear is turned by the people being protested AND the people who would benefit from the protest. No one listens to anyone. As a result, people get tired of waiting and *****ed off so many times, they go pick up a gun.
Bobby Sands shoud not be included because, while he was a hero, his was not an individual protest. 9 others died on the hunger strike. Interestingly, I know Vedran Smailovic personally. He lives in Ireland now and was a very good friend of my fathers. I have drank with him quite a few times and he comes to my house every Christmas. He’s a really good man.
@elbobbo (49):
In fact it is hardly debatable at all if Jesus was a real person–it is generally accepted that he very much WAS a real person—and I do not know a single historian who does not accept this and stand behind it—so your statements are, on the one hand, highly exaggerated, and on the other, downright wrong.
I’ve held forth on this before and I can’t believe it keeps rearing its ridiculous head. There is NO LESS “proof” of Jesus’ existence than for nearly ANYONE ELSE living in the Classical age—the only exceptions being royal personages and the like. The proof, for anyone else–including Jesus–is in fact in the form of congruent history… in short, we have several UNRELATED and disinterested sources mentioning him, near enough to the time he lived to make the reporting of a mere fantasy quite impossible.
This has been considered historically valid for centuries. And as I say, I know of NO historian who questions it. The precise details of Jesus’ life? Sure. We’ll question that. The sources for that are muddied. But that he actually existed? No. That is not questioned, and there’s no solid reason why it should be.
Period.
@Arsnl (43):
That’s a good call on the tank commander, he must have been under enormous pressure to take those tanks into town no matter what.
I wonder what his fate was?
D monk thing is such a tragedy!!!!!.Heartbreakin pic of d monks self immolation!!!!
What happened to d tank guy?????
was he gunned down or overpowered physically by d cops or sumthing???
Bhagat Singh and his fellow jail mates fasted for 55 or more days(cant rem. the exact no) in jail to protest against d discrimination against them as against the facilities provided to the other British prisoners
Irom Sharmila, that iconic 36-year-old Manipuri woman, has spent the best part of almost 10 years being force fed against her will. She has undertaken a fast-unto-death demanding the withdrawal of the AFSPA.
Each year, the ritual is played out. Her period of detention for attempting suicide is one year. The authorities have to release her, usuallyin early March. She leaves the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal where she is incarcerated and being force fed through a tube shoved down her nose.
And while this annual arrest and rearrest ritual continues, Manipur — and particularly Imphal — is caught in a permanent spiral of violence.
TANK MAAAAN~
DANANANANANANA~
XD
Nice list! Loved it.