For the upcoming @n3conference organized by @aaja at the end of August, I joined some of the best colleagues in #HongKong to reflect on our experience covering the #antiELAB protest last year. Here's the final piece by @BennettHMarcus:
n3con.com/magazine/aaja-…
"I’m given a reason to tear up on most protest days: Maybe I’m moved by the chorus of tens of thousands of voices singing the same song. Perhaps I’m angry at the abuse of power that I witness. Or I’m sad to see what’s become of my home," wrote @laurelchor.
"The past year has also shown me the power of storytelling, images, and journalism in being able to make people all over the world care about a place they might never visit. For those lessons, I’ll always be grateful," Laurel wrote.
"Walking down the row of black-clad people, I noticed a boy who was barely over age five. I almost missed him at first, his small body concealed by the adults around him. A backpack weighing down his tiny frame, he picked up what he could — ...
... handfuls of eye goggles, stacks of umbrellas almost as big as him, bottles of water and saline — and handed it down to the next person. Behind him, etched in black spray paint on the concrete road divider, was a refrain now common through the months of protests:...
'It was you who taught me that peaceful protests are useless,' wrote @ShibaniMahtani.
"The group, who were just standing outside the mosque in the hope that their presence would keep the highly symbolic landmark safe, was left retching, coughing and burning from the impact of the water. It turned out that it was the police they needed protecting from."
"Over the past year of covering Hong Kong’s protests, I’ve learned that I’m better off leaving the frantic frontline action to breaking-news reporters and photographers who are better geared up for the task....
... That leaves me time to focus on other parts of the protest, and to look at the events not just as a breaking news event but as a broader social movement reflecting an ongoing sociological phenomenon," wrote @maryhui.
"At one point, I noticed a team of six armed riot police officers — plus another who acted as a lookout — clearing a stray pushcart from the middle of a road. To me, that quiet moment crystalized the entire day of protest: it marked #HK’s descent into a de facto police state."
"It was another July 1st in Hong Kong, and as they had been doing for the last 22 years, Hong Kongers were preparing for the annual march that commemorates the anniversary of the city’s handover to China. What was different in 2019 was the tension and uncertainty in the air."
"Suddenly, news came that a large group of riot police was on the way to retake the Legislative building. As protesters began to wonder about their next moves, a young man took off his mask and recited the five demands of the crowd,...
... which later became the universal demands of the anti-government movement," I wrote.
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