guess I’m old enough to say that one of the saddest things in my life is to witness an entire generation of talented artists in China don’t have the privilege to freely express themselves—without sacrificing their future, finance, or abandoning their home and native language
This goes beyond my generation, but the realization is personal and visceral: They are my friends. They have great ambitions. They are so talented. Some already earned national attention until smackdown from past speeches. Some caved in and drown themselves in nihilism.
Want to highlight this video I produced in 2019 again. Even rock stars are dealing with this kind of censorship—what’s behind the censorship is the sweeping narrative that makes media public enemy and opposing voices “unpatriotic”.
ok i'm reading Ha Jin this weekend. poetryfoundation.org/poets/ha-jin
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