Tibetans and supporters took the streets on Tuesday March 10th, 2009 to voice outrage at China’s extreme clampdown in Tibet and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan National Uprising against China’s illegal occupation, when the Dalai Lama was forced to flee into exile. SFTEAM TIBET organized six Bay Area Tibetans to lobby in national capitals around the world to demand a strong multilateral response from global governments to pressure Chinese leaders to end their occupation of Tibet. The event began in Berkeley, where the Tibetan National flag raising event has been hosted by the City of Berkeley for the past 17 years to coincide with a resolution that was passed in the past years before with the support of Council member Kriss Worthington. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and City council member Kriss Worthington both honored the event with words of support.
The crowd then headed to Justin Herman Plaza in the financial district of San Francisco to gather together and led the march from there to the gates of San Francisco city hall. At the city hall, speakers from various areas spoke of the current situation in Tibet and educated the public on taking action for Tibet. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Representative read her support letter for the occasion and San Francisco City Supervisor, Chris Daly offered his support in person. Representative of Congressman George Miller read his support letter over the phone and Tibetan scholar and author, Jamyang Norbu spoke passionately and offered a document he compiled of all the evidences to support that Tibet was an independent country prior to 1959. SFRTYC scripted a political theater which was performed by the Bay Area Tibetan high school students with narrative that highlighted the chronology of major events in Tibet since 1949 when Communist China first began its invasion of Tibet to the present highlighting the profiles of the latest Tibetan political prisoners detained by the PRC.
The crowd marched up to the Chinese Consulate shouting slogans along the way. Minutes after we arrived, the consulate closed their doors and shut down for the day. Several Western and Chinese media from various outlets interviewed local Tibetans amongst the crowd, bringing forth interesting and important details relating to the life of the Tibetans in exile and the Tibetans in Tibet on the Tibetan National Uprising Day. Protests in front of the Chinese Consulate went on for two hours during which some volunteers handed out leaflets that explained why Tibetans are protesting against the Chinese government. That evening the Taiwanese TV Channel 26 had quite a long coverage in Chinese of March 10th in San Francisco and world wide around the globe.
Nearly 900 Tibetans and supporters gathered at the Union Square plaza at the heart of downtown San Francisco for the final event of the day. Speakers and supporters from various organizations showed solidarity with Tibet by showing support in person. Some of the speakers included Banafsheh Akhlaghi, Director of Amnesty International (whose support letter from read aloud), Jamyang Norbu, Tibetan Scholar, Writer and Activist, and Marianne Wong, Long time Chinese- American supporter of Tibet and the presidents of the SF TEAM TIBET coalition. In respect of the cultural and religious traditions of Tibet, performances were done by Chaksampa, and TANC Sunday school kids with teachers as well as prayers by the Gyuto and Nechung monks.
The event ended with Words of Thanks to long-time supporters such as the city of Berkeley, San Francisco with emphasis on SFPD for their corporation and especially to much of the Bay Area communities for their long time participation with support and contributions that makes such events successful.
